To Kill a Songbird
by GuilelessAesthete
Summary: Sky Strife join the Marauders in their adventures at Hogwarts, making friends  and enemies  along the way. Sorry the summary stinks, but this is a story worth reading. Sirius&OC. Rated T for language and some violence later. R&R!
1. The Beginnings

Name: Sky Elizabeth Strife (yes it comes in later)

Age: Well, obviously 11 to start Hogwarts and then 15 where the story picks up

Birthday: Depends on your mood. You were born at midnight between Christmas day and Christmas Eve

Body Type: Lean because of all the weapons training you've had

Hair: Red. Rich, dark red. Not Lily Evan's red, but darker almost brown and it goes to your waist

Eyes: soul piercing blue. Ice blue. FRODO BLUE!

Family: One brother. Not going to name who, but I but I bet you can guess. But your mum and dad are dead.

Wizard/Witch percentage: 100% (yes you are a pure blood)

Personality: Can be touchy (not like clingy hug type touchy but easily irritated) but very nice. Your smile can win awards. You are very quick to trust which means you can get into some pretty strange situations with your friends. Almost devilishly smart. Extremely bright in classes. Smokes even Lily Evans in DADA and Charms.

NOW ON WITH THE STORY!

Okay, you may see the title and think "Okay, What happened to 'To Kill a Mockingbird'?" Well this is not about that story at all. My name is Sky and I am Songbird. Or, at least, that's what my friends call me. But, of course, no story would be complete if there wasn't a bit of romance thrown into the mix. My best friend in the whole wide world fell in and out of love with me, and I never saw it coming. Who might my best friend be? Could it be the shy, but smart, bookworm? Or was it the loyal follower who only knew how to stroke already over inflated egos? Nah, I was the object of obsession for the Hogwarts player. The most wanted man in all of the years at Hogwarts. And I was stuck at the short end of the stick. I didn't know that I being fawned over by the most womanizing man at Hogwarts. I didn't know I was playing the Hogwarts player. Or at least, I didn't know at first. So I will tell you my story so you can see what torment I put this guy through.

**PART 1**

Okay, where to begin? I think I should start when my friends and I met.

I was 11 and I was going through the barrier to platform 9 and 3/4 for the first time with my big brother. He went through first and was waiting for me on the other side.

"BIG BROTHER!" I called to him as he started to walk away with our owl, Moon, under one arm and pushing the cart with both of our trunks on it with the other. He was so strong and I loved him for it. He was going into his 3rd year while I was only going into my first.

"BROTHER WAIT UP!" I yelled.

I was so busy trying to keep up, that I didn't notice the small, mousy boy that came right in front of me. And me, being extremely clumsy, tripped and fell right on top of him.

"I am soooo sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going." I said helping him up.

He had almost mouse like features and seemed to be really jumpy when I spoke to him.

"It's really fine. No harm done." He said in a barely audible voice.

"SKY! KEEP UP!" my big brother yelled, storming back to me. He must have already but Moon and our trunks on the train.

"I'm sorry. I accidentally ran into Who are you?" I asked him.

"Peter. Peter Pettigrew." He said quickly.

"I'm sorry for my sister's clumsiness, Peter. She has a bad habit of running into people." My big brother said. He took me by the upper arm and led me away.

"I REALLY AM SORRY PETER!" I yelled back to him.

When Brother and I were in a compartment by ourselves, he turned on me.

"I could have lost you, Sky! Why did you dawdle?" he asked me exasperatedly.

"I wasn't trying to! There were so many people and you walk faster than I do!" I said in my own defense, all of it being true.

He sighed and then sat down. I sat across from him in silence. I didn't like to make my big brother mad, and I felt bad.

"Can we sit here?" a male voice said from the door.

I looked up to see Peter and three other boys standing in the doorway. Two of them had black hair. But one had steely gray eyes and his hair was longer and the other had hazel eyes and his hair seemed to be stubbornly untidy. The last boy had caramel colored eyes and light brown hair that was sort of long but sort of not. I looked to my big brother and he nodded.

"Sure why not?" I said.

They all smiled and sat down. The one with steely eyes was staring at me, so I turned away to look out the window.

"Sky, I think your name is, these people are James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Sirius Black." Peter said.

I looked over to just see him pointing each out. Sirius was still staring at me so I blushed the lightest shade of pink. Unfortunately, my big brother noticed.

"Do you have a staring problem, Sirius?" he asked politely, but still enough to say 'stop staring at my little sister'.

"And I didn't catch your name when Sky ran into me." Peter said, just as polite. He obviously didn't catch the underlying tone in my big brother's voice.

"Cloud. I'm Cloud Strife." He said simply.

"Cloud Strife? THE Cloud Strife? Like the one who is the best Chaser on the Gryffindor team?" James asked stunned.

Sirius was still looking at me, but with a stunned look rather than a one of interest or mild awe.

"And you're his..?" Remus asked me.

He was also polite but his voice was softer than James, who had a rather dominant "PAY ATTENTION TO ME!" kind of voice.

"I'm his sister." I said softly.

"So you must have the same skills." James said.

"Well, I think I do better as Seeker." I said.

"You have the right build for Seeker." James said.

"What is that supposed to mean Potter?" Cloud asked protectively.

"Nothing. I'm just stating that she has a light build and could fly fast." James said, his voice ever so slightly shaking.

"Well well well, look what we have here." A drawling voice said from the doorway.

We all looked to see a boy with sleek blonde hair, a girl with just as bright blond but rather pretty, a boy with a stocky build and a sort of flat face, and a last boy with greasy black hair.

"Malfoy." Cloud said venomously.

"Ah Cloud nice to see you again." The girl with blond hair said.

"Not so good to see you though, Narcissa." Cloud spat.

I never saw him this cold before. It was a bit shocking.

"And who is this beauty?" The blond boy, Malfoy, asked.

He came up to me, took my hand, and kissed it. I pulled my hand away quickly with a forced smile to be polite.

"Back off Malfoy. She's not for touching." Could said, pushing Malfoy away forcefully.

"We shall meet again, beautiful." Malfoy whispered before walking away with his followers behind him.

The compartment door closed quietly and then an unknown voice swore from the corner near the door. We all looked to see Sirius livid.

"You know that prat?" Cloud asked.

"Know him? I know all of them! Unfortunately." Sirius said loudly.

His voice had a sort of quality that could just draw you in, even if he was mad. I looked at him a little bit shocked but mostly in interest. He was still fuming in the corner when the train lurched to a start. It caught me off guard and I almost fell. But I caught myself.

For the remainder of the train ride we all talked and Cloud just watched with a careful eye. James and I played several games of Exploding Snap and I beat him every time. Remus and I were able to just finish a game of Wizard's Chess before we had to change. He beat me, but I was really never good at chess. The six of us went to change in the restrooms. All of the boys went into their bathroom and I went into mine. But upon entering, I collided with yet another person.

"I'm so sorry." We both said at the same time.

I got up and helped the other girl up. She was wearing blank robes, so she was also a first year. I helped her up and saw that she had red hair like me but brighter red. She had really cool looking green eyes.

"I'm Sky. I love your eyes by the way." I said as she brushed off.

"I'm Lily Evans. And yours are cool too." She said.

Lily and I shook hands and we talked while I was getting changed. We talked and talked and talked all the way back to the compartment where all the boys were sitting and waiting.

"I was getting a bit worried Sky." Cloud said.

"I was just with Lily." I said. I sat down next to the window with Lily on my other side.

"I'm Lily Evans. It's nice to meet you Cloud. Sky said a lot about in the short time we talked." Lily said politely.

Cloud and Lily shook hands and then we all noticed that James was staring at her.

"Oh yeah, this is Peter, Remus, Sirius and James." I introduced.

Lily shook hands with all of them except James who was still staring a frozen.

"Ignore him. He is obviously stunned by you. Sirius did the same thing to me. Only you don't have an older brother to go mental over it." I whispered in her ear.

We both giggled while Sirius punched James in the arm. That snapped him out of his trance pretty quickly. Lily and I giggled a bit harder.

Well, that's how we met. We being the Marauders and Lily. We were all sorted into Gryffindor and then grew even closer as the years went on. We grew to hate Severus Snape, Lucius Malfoy, Narcissa Black (until the two of them graduated two and three years respectively later), along with Regulas Black who came in two years after us. I grew used to seeing a new girl sitting with us almost every week. Sirius grew into a rather annoying habit of not eating his food but just snogging at every breakfast, lunch, or dinner. I personally think that if I didn't make them stop and make Sirius eat, he would have withered away to nothing by now. But I'm a good friend and that's what I do. There have been a few rough spots mainly between Lily and James but it's fine for now. They still talk but she gets really irritated by his immaturity. And because I share a dorm with her, I never hear the end of anything he does. No matter how much she denies it, I think she like him. Cloud and I have never stopped the training we do. Dumbledore has been really nice about letting us use the Great Hall on Saturdays after breakfast and lunch. But other than that, my friends and I have become the greatest pranksters to ever walk the halls of Hogwarts. I was mostly the brains of the operation, even if James and Sirius tried to take all the credit. We were in detention for most of our first 5 years at school. And beginning of year 5 is where we pick up.


	2. So we're the Marauders?

So now we delve deeper into my life. This should be fun.

It was the September 1st and Lily and I were walking through the barrier to Platform 9 and ¾ for the 5th time in our lives. We had our arms linked and we were talking like normal teenage girls. Lily had really changed since I first met her. At first she was really shy but now she would openly talk about anything in public, except womanly problems. Her physical appearance had changed too. Her hair was now a little past her elbows and her eyes had gotten even brighter, if possible.

I had changed too. My hair, which started at elbow length was now almost past my butt. I wanted to cut it because it was getting really long and annoying. But Cloud came in behind us and broke my train of thought. He hadn't changed at all, despite the fact that he had gotten so much taller than me. That made it really hard to fight him. AND SPEAKING OF FIGHTING, I was so proud of Lily. She did some serious weight training over the last 4 summers and got rid of that pesky jellyroll that she had when I first met her. She now was really lean and fit. The biggest change was definitely over the last summer because she had gotten a lot more training in because she spent the whole summer with me instead of just half of it. She looked really good from head to toe, even her complexion looked better.

Lily and I laughed at something that Cloud had just said as we totally got through the barrier. I spotted the people I was looked for almost instantly. I was looking for Sirius and James that were together, like always. I ran to them and nearly knocked over Sirius when I tackled him in a hug. He was winded for a second but then laughed and hugged me back. I let go of Sirius to only jump on James in a hug. He was more prepared than Sirius was but still was winded with the sheer force of my hug. I heard Lily come up behind me so I let go of James to give her a chance. She hugged both of them and then we talked on our way to the compartment.

"So how were your summers?" Sirius asked in the gentlemanly fashion.

"Very good thank you. I think that we had lots of fun, didn't we Lily darling?" I said in the same kind of tone, playing along with Sirius's joke.

"I would say so. How were your summers, boys?" Lily said, also playing along.

"Wreaking havoc upon Regulas Black and company does quite pass the time, really my dear." James answered.

We all laughed at our joke and then we climbed on the train. We found our compartment just as it should be: only containing Cloud, Remus, and Peter. And rightly so, considering that Sirius and James turn some 6th years into what looked like marsh men with cat sick for skin last year for taking our compartment. I sat by the window across from Cloud. Sirius sat between Peter and me while Lily and James joined Remus and Cloud on the opposite seat. It was a cozy fit and there was just enough room for all of us.

"Is that a prefect badge I spy on your chest, Remus?" I asked in fake shock.

"No." he replied guiltily, hiding his chest behind his book.

I tore the book from his hands and saw that, in fact, there was a shining crimson and gold badge on his chest.

"Hey, don't feel bad, mate. Cloud is Head Boy. Aren't you big brother? Big brother?" I asked.

But Cloud wasn't listening. He was too busy staring out the window at someone. I looked in the general direction that Cloud was and saw that he was admiring a girl in his year named Melissa. She was very pretty with dark brown hair and shinning gray eyes. She was slender but looked like she could do with a few extra pounds here and there.

"Just go for it." I said quietly.

"Huh?" Cloud said coming out of his trance.

"Just go for it. You are one of the most popular people in Hogwarts and you're on the Quidditch team. She's bound to like you." I said lowly so I wouldn't be heard above James telling what seemed to be an amusing joke.

"You wouldn't understand." Cloud said moodily.

"I've known you since birth, Cloud. Don't you dare tell me that I wouldn't understand." I said in a low reprimanding voice.

He sighed exasperatedly and then ignored me. The train suddenly lurched to a start out of nowhere. I almost fell but Sirius caught me around the waist and saved me.

"You would think after 5 years of this that I would be used to it." I said to myself.

"One would think." Sirius said in response.

I laughed and then sat back in my seat. The 5 of us, excluding Cloud, talked for a while until it was time to change into out robes. Everyone left and then I stayed behind. I put a spell on the door to make it non-see through. As I changed I sang a song that suddenly popped in my head

"Honey why you callin' me so late? It's kinda hard to talk right now. Honey why you cryin' is everything okay? I gotta whisper 'cause I can't be too loud. Well, my girl's in the next room. Sometimes I wish she was you. I guess we never really moved on. It's really good to hear your voice say my name; it sounds so sweet comin' from the lips of an angel. Hearing those words it makes me weak. And I never wanna say good-bye but girl you make it hard to be faithful with the lips of an angel. It's funny that you're callin' me tonight and yes I dreamt of you too. She doesn't know you're talkin' to me or we'll start a fight. No I don't think she has a clue. Well, my girl's in the next room. Sometimes I wish she was you. I guess we never really moved on. It's really good to hear your voice say my name it sounds so sweet comin' from the lips of an angel. Hearing those words it makes me weak. And I never wanna say good-bye but girl you make it hard to be faithful with the lips of an angel. It's really good to hear you voice say my name it sounds so sweet comin' from the lips of an angel. Hearing those words it makes me weak. And I never wanna say good-bye but girl you make it hard to be faithful with the lips of an- And I never wanna say good-bye but girl you make it hard to be faithful with the lips of an angel. Honey why you callin' me so late?"

I sat down in my seat after unlocking the door and uncharming it. I looked out the window to watch the rolling countryside. I heard the door slide open and closed and someone sat down beside me. I smelt the Axe that Sirius always wears, Phoenix, so I wasn't so worried.

"Did you talk to whatsherface?" I asked like I was talking about the weather.

"Yeah. She nearly tackled me as I came out the changing room. I had to let her go. Too touchy-feely." Sirius said.

I could tell that he cringed by the tone of his voice. I laughed out loud at this fact.

"Sometimes I wonder if you could ever become more hypocritical." I said laughing.

"Well, I do know one thing." Sirius said.

"And what would that be?" I asked. I turned my head sharply to face him.

"I have dated almost every girl in our year, now that I broke the knot with Gina." He said proudly.

"Almost?" I asked.

"Lily I will never date because I don't want to get in a fight with James and one other girl." Sirius said.

"Who—"

"I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU JAMES!" I heard Lily rage as she came storming into the compartment with everyone but Cloud coming in behind her.

I gave Remus a "What did he do this time?" look and he said,

"Someone insulted Lily so James jinxed him."

"HE DIDN'T JUST JINX THE KID! HE MADE HIS FACE TURN BLUE FROM SUFFICATION!" Lily yelled.

"What did this runt call Lily?" I asked.

"Mudblood." Peter and Remus said spitefully.

"James Potter," I said in my motherly voice. I stood up and put my hands on my hips. "if any little midget calls Lily that again, I expect something better than that out of you." I said coldly.

I walked out of the compartment, slamming the sliding door in rage. I stormed down the passage way in rapid thought. Who hadn't Sirius dated yet? I recalled every single girlfriend he had that I could remember and, as far as I could tally, he had dated everyone except Lily. I found an old compartment that was still useable but no one was in it. I opened the solid door and then shut it behind me. I plopped down on the seat near the window. I looked out the window to see the light fading from the sky and it was starting to rain. Lovely. I heard the door slide open again and then Phoenix Axe assaulted my nostrils. It was Sirius. He sat down next to me.

"Sirius." I whined.

"Wha-at?" he whined back in the same tone.

"Why do they argue so much? Why can't they just kiss and make up?" I asked in an agitated tone.

I leaned my head against Sirius's shoulder and he wrapped a friendly arm around my shoulders in a half hug.

"That would be simple. Nothing in life can be simple." Sirius explained like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

I sighed and then went to lie down. I put my head in Sirius's lap and he stroked the hair out of my face.

"I think we need something to do this year." I said offhandedly.

"What do you suggest?" Sirius asked, conversationally.

"We should learn all there is to know about the school." I said excitedly.

I sat up to see Sirius appalled.

"I doubt that even Dumbledore knows all there is to know. The school is older than he is, which is saying something." Sirius said.

"No, not the history. I mean like a map of the school and its grounds. We know the grounds pretty well since we go out with Remus during his time of the month." I said, dropping my voice so only Sirius could hear me.

"Well, how do you suggest we do this with all of our studies and the like?" Sirius asked.

"We don't have to do it all this year. We can do it on the weekends and during breaks and such." I said. Sirius sat in thoughtful silence for a while and I let him think about it.

"Should Cloud and Lily know?" Sirius asked.

We both locked eyes and then I wrinkled my nose.

"Nah." We both said at the same time and we laughed.

"So we shall maraud the school and make a map of our journey." Sirius said grandly.

"What does maraud mean?" I asked.

"Pillage and raid. We will raid the school by night or when ever and make a map of what we find." Sirius explained.

"So we are the Marauders?" I asked.

"I guess we could be called that." Sirius said.

I laughed and we spent the rest of the train ride talking in that compartment.

So that's how we go the name Marauders. We did maraud the school by night, mostly when Remus had his "monthly issue". We mapped out all the grounds during those times out and it was a lot of fun. And the scariest part was that Lily and Cloud never DID find out. We mostly kept to ourselves about this Marauder's Map, as it came to be called. We often were up to all hours of the night with James's Invisibility Cloak feeling around for any walls that give out into passages or staircases. This took about until the beginning of December, which, low and behold, was a Saturday. That is where I will pick up next time.

A/N: I do not own "Lips of an Angel". That is a Hinder song. Don't come after me.


	3. Hypothetically

So here goes the next part of my life.

It was December 1st and Peter and myself were on our way to breakfast. But we weren't coming from the common room. We were coming from a place in the basements that we had been exploring and arguing about.

"I'm telling you Pete, there is something behind that painting!" I said in a soft yell so not to attract any extra attention.

I sat down and saw that there was this mashed potato stuff for breakfast as a side dish. I loved mashed potatoes so I took a large helping while getting weird looks from the rest table.

"There is nothing behind that painting Sky." Peter argued as he took a few sausages from the platter.

"What are you two going on about?" James asked sleepily.

"I think that there is something behind a painting down in the first floor basement." I said in defense for myself because Peter had taken a large bite of sausage so he couldn't talk.

"How do you figure?" James asked, still only half awake.

"There is this sort of spiral staircase that leads down to the dead end hallway. There is this giant painting of a bowl of fruit. I was knocking on the wall around it and I could swear that it was hollow-"

"Even though I knocked right after and I heard nothing." Peter interrupted.

"HEY GUYS!" I heard someone call.

I looked to the doors and saw that Cloud was running towards my group of friends in his Quidditch uniform. He sat down at the same time another little blonde bitch sat down in Sirius's lap. Her back was to me but I saw that it was Michaela Emerson. She was a slut so I let her slide for now so I could listen to what Cloud had to say.

"We are missing a Seeker from the team." Cloud said.

"What?" I asked.

"That little kid, Timmy, he got hit in the head with a bludger. You'll never guess by who." Cloud said.

"I'm listening." James said suddenly wide-awake.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Michaela kissing Sirius with a strange passion.

"The CHASER David took Tony's bat and then tried to show him how to play Beater properly and ended up hitting Timmy in the head. Now he's lost his memory from the time I think he was 5." Cloud explained.

I saw Michaela run a hand through Sirius's long hair.

"So what happened then?" I asked.

"Well, naturally, Zac kicked David off the team and Timmy can't play so we need to hold try-outs ASAP." Cloud explained.

I saw Sirius's hand start to creep under Michaela's shirt.

"When will they be?" James asked.

"At the end of the week. Friday at 5 after dinner." Cloud said.

"We'll be there." I said with a smile.

Cloud nodded and then ran off again. I turned back to my food and saw that Michaela was making slow but steady progress with the buttons on Sirius's white button down.

"I HATE TO INTERRUPT," I said loudly.

They both jumped and looked at me.

"But Sirius has to eat and you are a hindrance to that." I finished with a sickly sweet smile.

Michaela glared pure daggers at me before getting up and walking out of the Hall in a huff.

"Why do I need to eat? I was having fun." Sirius whined.

"You are the only one with a good enough broom to give me any type of competition so I can get back on form." I said.

I finished off my mashed potatoes with one last swallow. But it was a rather difficult swallow for being mashed potatoes. The feeling that I was going to choke passed after a few seconds and then I got up.

"But I have something to do until lunch, and I have something that I have to show you all. So we will train after dinner. Cya later peeps." I said.

I waved and then ran out of the Hall. I went up to my room and then changed into some comfortable clothes. I ran back down the steps to the Entrance Hall and was about to go outside but then Dumbledore's voice floated out to me.

"Attention everyone!" The hall fell silent so I could hear Dumbledore better.

"This Christmas there will be a ball. But this is no ordinary ball. The first part of the ball will be formal and for all the years of the school. But at 9 PM there will a ½ hour for a quick change of pace. After this ½ hour, the ball will change to more of a party for the 3 oldest years. It will be more like, as the muggles put it, a club or rave style party. So almost anything goes. There shall be nothing see-through or too revealing. If there are any questions about dress, see your head of house. Any other questions can be directed to them as well." Dumbledore continued.

He must have sat down because the hall erupted with talk. I walked out of the castle to have the morning air assault me. I took a deep breath and then started to run around the outside of the castle. I keep my left shoulder towards the outside wall of the castle and just kept running as I thought. I didn't know what I would wear to this ball. The formal part wouldn't be too hard but the club stuff would be hard. I thought that I would have to wear something that wouldn't attract too much attention but something to still look good. I continued to think as I ran around the castle's perimeter.

When I reached the front doors again, I saw Cloud waiting for me. He joined me as we jogged two more laps around the school. When we went back into the school, we found that the Great hall was empty except for a weapons rack where the teacher's table would normally be. I went up and took my two swords in their plain black scabbards and strapped them on my back in an "x". Cloud put the Ultima Weapon in its holder. We both walked to the center of the hall and stood about 20 feet apart.

"Just like normal. No holding back." Cloud stated.

I nodded and we took an at ease position. He counted 3 and I whipped out my two swords and crossed them just in time to block the fully assembled sword of Cloud coming at me. I pushed Cloud back with enough force to send him back from whence he came. I quickly moved to an offensive position but then switched almost immediately back to defensive because Cloud bounced—almost literally—back at me. I blocked but the sheer force of momentum behind Cloud pushed me back. I slid backwards about 5 feet and was just able to block Cloud. I did a few back handsprings to avoid getting hit again. I eventually was able to jump into the air and attack Cloud from above. We parried a couple times while I was in mid air but he ended up pushing me into the air further and back far enough to knock me against the wall. But I was ready for this. I was able to catch the wall and use it like a springboard and push off towards Cloud. I was on the offensive for a while but then Cloud attacked again when I was out of the air. The two of us fought for the longest time and then suddenly, a table appeared. We stopped because the 2nd and 3rd tables appeared shortly after. I put my swords back on the rack and Cloud made it disappear in time for the teacher's table to reappear. Cloud and I both walked to the shifting stairs but then Cloud went a different way while I went back to the common room. I saw the guys sitting on the couches and chairs near the fire, almost waiting for me.

"Took you long enough." Peter said offhandedly.

I plopped down next to Sirius on the couch and sighed. I looked over to Peter and blew a raspberry at him.

"Oh that's real mature." Sirius said sarcastically. I stuck my tongue out at him and then got up.

"Where are you going?" James asked.

"Um.. to shower and.. like change." I said in a really preppy voice.

I ran up the girl's stairs and did just as I said I would. I put on a pair of dark blue jeans and a plain white tee shirt. I put on a dark jean jacket that matched the wash of my jeans. I walked back down the stairs to find the guys still waiting.

"You could have gone to lunch without me." I stated as they got up.

"But that would have been rude, dear Sky. And we are not rude people." Remus said in a silky, over exaggerated tone.

"Of course not." I said sarcastically.

We all walked to lunch together and ate together. After lunch I led the guys up to the 7th floor to show them what I found. I stood them in front of the tapestry of the guy teaching trolls to do ballet.

"Why are we-"

"SHH!" I hushed Peter.

I walked past a section of blank wall 3 times thinking about a room that my friends and myself go into to create a map of the school. A large door appeared after my third time pacing. I smiled and looked over to the boys. They all had dropped jaws and they were staring at this newly materialized door. I motioned them to follow me into the room to see it just like the last time I was in here. It was about the size of the Great Hall and was lined with shelves that had scrolls of parchment on them. In the center of the room, there was a table about the size of the teacher's table. I went over to a shelf and picked a piece of parchment off the shelf labeled "first floor basement, kitchen wing". I brought the scroll to the table and unrolled it. It had the exact path that Peter and I took from the painting of the bowl of fruit to the stairs that led to the great hall quite clearly labeled.

"HaHA! I told you that there was something behind that bowl of fruit!" I said triumphantly.

"What is this place?" Remus asked in amazement.

I looked up to see James and Sirius pouring over a scroll of parchment near the door, Peter looking around dazed and Remus was just puzzled.

"This is the room of Requirement." I said while grandly motioning around.

"How do you figure?" Peter asked faintly.

I pointed to an open scroll on the table. It had the West wing of the 7th floor mapped out with all the little passage and then where they led. But the thing that stood out was a large room. It located it and saw that there were 5 dots labeled with Sirius Black, James Potter, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, and Sky Strife standing in the room. The room itself was labeled "Room of Requirement". All of the guys looked at it then at me.

"Any more dumb questions that I could answer?" I asked nicely.

"Why are we wasting time just looking around? Let's fix this map." James said loudly.

Sirius pulled a piece of parchment out of his pocket and tapped it with his wand.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Sirius said with unnecessary fervor.

I rolled my eyes as I helped him spread out the rather large piece of parchment out on the table. James unrolled the piece of parchment that he and Sirius had just been looking at. It was a chunk of the Forbidden Forest. From that point on we worked, and worked, AND worked until we had the entire Forbidden Forest and grounds fixed and/or looked over. We then moved to the lowest level of the castle and wrote down everything that we needed to check on that floor on a piece of parchment. James was put in charge of making sure that it was right. Then we did the same thing for all nine floors of the castle. We each had two or three floors to do.

It was about five when this was all finished. I stored the map once it was cleared and my list of passages and rooms for the 3rd and 4th floors in my pocket. We all walked down to the Great Hall for dinner. There were more mashed potatoes. I took a good helping of that and the guys and I ate without anything weird happening. Even Sirius denied a well-known make-out buddy of his this dinner. I smiled to myself at this.

When Sirius and I finished, we both got up and went up to the common room, arguing the entire time. As we entered the portrait hole, a rather disturbing sight met us. It was Michaela and David, the ex-chaser from the Gryffindor, getting hot and heavy on the sofa. Well, not like doing IT but getting ready to. I cleared my throat and they both looked up at me.

"I really think that you should be doing that in private." I said with false sweetness to hide my disgust.

"Why? This is just as much our common room as yours." David said. He always seemed to not like me.

"I don't think that the Head Boy would like to walk in on you two like Sirius and I just did." I said.

And it was true. I could hear Cloud's voice echoing up the hall from the open portrait hole. David sighed and got up. He and Michaela both ran up the boy's staircase holding hands.

"I told you. I told you but you never listen." I said exasperatedly to Sirius.

He gave me a "Whatever. Don't rub it in." look and then ran up the boy's stairs to get his broom.

"Hi Sky." I heard an Irish voice say from behind me. I turned to see what was left of the Quidditch team climbing through the portrait hole.

"Hiya Zac." I greeted.

Zac was the captain of the team, played Keeper and Cloud's best friend. He was Irish and was slightly taller than Cloud. Zac had long dark brown hair and really cool looking blue green eyes. The rest greeted me and I greeted them. Mark was a Chaser like Cloud and was Scottish. His accent was really funny too. Mark was shorter than Cloud by about three inches. He had brown eyes and caramel hair. John was a Beater and was from London like Cloud and myself. He was Tony's twin brother, and Tony was also a Beater. They both had really dark blue eyes. Tony had dark brown almost black hair while John had golden blonde hair. I loved them all like brothers and they were really protective of me. John had once gotten his ass kicked because he fought a guy over a perverted comment. But his loss.

"So where are you going?" Cloud asked.

"Sirius and I are going to train out on the pitch." I said.

"Alone?" John asked suspiciously.

"You guys are too protective of me. Loosen up." I said with a shrug of my shoulders.

"I'm back." Sirius said, bounding down the stairs.

"I have to run and get my broom. I'll be right back." I said. I ran up the stairs and got my broom.

It was a very nice broom. It was also the best my inheritance money could buy me. This broom was wicked fast and had perfect everything. I did have to say that I was a little obsessive with keeping it clean and safe. I took it out of the wooden box that I kept it in. The wood of the box was the same type that my broom was made of. The inside was red velvet and had an indent for the broom to fit in. I told you I was obsessive. I quickly and carefully ran back down the stairs but stopped when I heard Cloud talking to Sirius.

"…and if I hear one thing that I don't like, then I will make sure that all chances of you ever having children are gone." Cloud said icily.

"Cloud I think that-"

"That goes the same for all of us too. It'll be your head, Black, if ANYTHING happens to her that we don't like. If even one hair on our girl's hair is harmed, you're finished." Zac said, cutting off a flustered Sirius.

"I would never-"

"But don't pretend that you haven't had your eye on her for a long time. She is the only girl besides Lily you haven't dated in your year." Mark said dangerously.

"We're burning daylight! Let's go Sirius! I'll talk to you guys later!" I yelled, finishing coming down the stairs.

I grabbed Sirius's wrist with my free hand and ran out of the common room.

"Go easy on him lassie!" I heard Zac yell at me.

I let go of Sirius's wrist as we rounded the corner.

"Race you to the pitch!" Sirius yelled as he took off at a sprint.

"No fair! You got a head start!" I yelled as I sped off after him.

We both ran like maniacs, Sirius being in the ever so slight lead. He was beating me all the way down to the Entrance Hall. But I took advantage of the momentum and jumped on the banister. I slid my way down the stairs and did a flip off the banister just in time. I landed like a cat almost but quickly got back to my feet and I sped out the doors as Sirius yelled something behind me. We both ended up tying in the end.

"Let's get going! I'll go get the Snitch while you catch your breath." I said quickly.

I was full of energy so I ran into the locker room to get the Snitch and ran back to Sirius who was still doubled over, panting.

"How can you run like that?" Sirius asked between gasps for air.

"I have been doing that kind of running since I could first walk." I said.

He looked at me like I had lost my mind right then and there. I mounted my broom and did a couple flying warm-ups while I waited for Sirius to catch his breath. He ended up flying with me a couple laps before we started my re-training.

"I'll let the Snitch go and then I will give you the signal to go find it. I will join you after 10 seconds." Sirius said.

We both flew to the ground. He was able to materialize a whistle and then let the Snitch go. He blew the whistle about 20 seconds after. I kicked off the ground hard and then went to find it. Sirius was up in the air 10 seconds after. I saw the Snitch but then found it was a trick of the light. I looked behind me to see Sirius in a steep dive. I looked at his path to see the Snitch near the ground. I quickly sped off and caught the Snitch right before Sirius's fingers could close around it. I flew up in the air triumphantly.

"NO FAIR!" Sirius yelled.

"All's fair in love and war." I said with a smirk.

We did this same thing until the sun had set and we couldn't see the snitch anymore. I put the Snitch away and then Sirius waited for me.

"There's something I want to show you." I said. I grabbed Sirius's hand and led him toward the Forbidden Forest.

"Where are you taking me?" Sirius asked.

"You'll see." I said vaguely.

I led him into the forest on a path that I could barely see but knew well. It led to a clearing near enough to the lake not be part of the forest but trees on three sides still surrounded it.

"This is so cool." Sirius said.

The half moon was shining on the lake beautifully. There was a really big boulder near the edge of the water with enough flat surface for two people to sit comfortably. I led Sirius to the rock and got on myself. He followed suit and we sat on the rock in silence looking at the lake.

"Hey Sky." Sirius said after a while.

"Hey Sirius." I said copying him. He paused briefly.

"Never mind." He said after a little bit.

"Sirius Black, we have been friends since the beginning. Don't you "never mind" me. What's on your mind?" I said, shoving Sirius slightly with my shoulder.

"Okay, hypothetically, I want to ask this girl to the Christmas dance. But, hypothetically, I don't want to ruin our hypothetical friendship by hypothetically asking her and her hypothetically taking it the wrong way. All of this is hypothetical of course." Sirius said.

I pretty much saw through what he said. He wanted to ask me but didn't want to ruin our friendship if I saw it as a way to get the last notch in his belt. But I wouldn't which he didn't know. But I didn't want to let him know that I knew what he was talking about.

"WELL, if hypothetically, you just asked this girl, it would probably be easier to hypothetically find out how she would hypothetically react. You never hypothetically know until you hypothetically ask." I said, using the hypothetical talk that Sirius used.

"You have a point." He admitted.

"Hypothetically." He and I said in unison.

We both laughed at the unison and then lapsed back into silence. After a while, Sirius suddenly gasped.


	4. All Choked Up

**PART 4**

"What?" I asked.

"I just remembered. I found it. I found the secret to becoming animagi." Sirius said excitedly.

I nearly knocked him off the rock with the force that I hugged him.

"Let's go tell the others." I said happily.

He agreed and we both scrambled off the rock. We made a mad dash for the path and I ended up being the one n the lead. Once we broke loose of the forest, it was an all out race for the castle. We were both neck and neck until about half way. That's when I decided to be smart and hop on my broom. I sped ahead of him and he was fuming behind me. I assumed that he did the same thing because I could hear him cursing wildly behind me. I jumped off my broom in mid air as soon as I was right above the steps. I gather my balance and then started running again.

"Are you getting tired yet Padfoot?" I yelled back to Sirius.

"What?" Sirius asked.

"Are you tired yet?" I yelled.

I stopped dead in my track and turned around to have him crash right into me. I fell to the floor, with Sirius right on top of me. He was panting slightly and so was I surprisingly. I realized that he wasn't wearing Axe today. He just smelled like pine trees and rain. It was beautiful.

"I guess to you are tired." I said a little breathlessly.

"Not if you aren't Songbird." Sirius said with a smirk. It really played up his silver gray eyes.

"Songbird?" I asked, still breathless for some reason.

"You call me Padfoot, I call you Songbird." Sirius said.

"Then can you do me a favor, Padfoot." I said, not really breathless.

"What?" he asked. We were silent for a small bit of time.

"Can you get off me please?" I asked.

He stumbled over his words a bit but in the end, he got off me. We both walked to the common room to find the guys and Lily sitting by the fire doing homework. Well, Lily was doing homework; the other guys were all crowded around the map again. Sirius nodded at the staircase and the other guys non-verbally understood that Sirius had something to them and Lily couldn't hear. I stayed behind briefly. James was behind Lily but on the staircase. He held up five fingers. I nodded to show that I understood that I only had five minutes. I quickly launched into a recall of my time with Sirius from dinner until now.

"Well that sounds serious, no pun intended." Lily said in thought.

I looked at my watch and saw that I had two minutes left.

"Well, what should I do?" I asked quickly.

"You're going up with the guys right?" Lily asked. I nodded.

"Just flirt in a subtle way and see how he reacts. Then tell me and we'll figure something out." Lily said.

I thanked and hugged her before speeding up the boys' stairs and into the guy's dorm that they luckily shared. Each one of them was sitting on his own bed. I walked over to Sirius and just sat in his lap. I leaned against his chest and got comfortable. He was leaning against the headboard, so it wasn't too much on him I hope. I felt him clear his throat and then he began to tell us all about the plant that we needed to become animagi. It was called Athalas and it needed to be mixed with the nectar from the flower of the fire plant. After he finished his shmeal, we all fell into thoughtful silence.

"Guys, I think I know how we can get it." I said out of random.

"How?" Sirius asked.

"We could ask Lily. Well, only if Remus agrees." I said, quickly adding the last part.

"How could Evans help us?" James asked.

"The plants would obviously be in some place that students aren't allowed in without permission. I would assume a greenhouse. She could ask a teacher for permission because all the teachers love her. But which teacher is the problem." I said.

"Slughorn. She could ask Slughorn. Athalas is used in many different potions and for healing purposes. Lily could come up with any excuse she wants, but Slughorn always seemed to favor her." Peter said, snapping his fingers.

"This is true." I said in thought. There was more silence.

"James, let's go maraud and bring back a little plunder." Sirius said.

"Padfoot-"

But before I could say anything else, Sirius moved me with ease from his lap. He and James left the room swiftly and then came up again carrying Lily by her arms and legs while she was screaming things like "rape", "kidnap", and "murderers" at the top of her lungs. She was blindfolded as far as I could tell. James nodded to Remus, whose bed was closest to the door, to shut and lock it. Remus did so while Peter closed the curtains. Remus summoned a wooden chair for Lily. Sirius and James sat her in it and then quickly moved away. Sirius undid the blindfold magically as I sat back in his lap.

"What the-Sky? What are you doing letting them kidnap me so brutally?" Lily asked in rage.

She tried to leave but the door was sealed shut.

"Have a seat please Lily." Remus said kindly.

Lily glared around the room and then did so with a large "humph".

"No matter what happens, no matter what is said, we are still best friends." I said before anyone could say anything else. She nodded in confusion.

"Okay, we need you to answer a few questions. First, do you solemnly swear that you won't rat us out for being up to no good?" Sirius asked quickly.

I compressed a laugh to a quiet snort as Lily said she did.

"Next question. Do you know?" James asked.

"Know what?" Lily asked.

She was seriously lost and it was very evident on her face.

"Remus's time of the month, if I am permitted to put it that way. Or perhaps his furry little problem." James asked. He looked at Remus who nodded.

"That he's a werewolf? Oh I've known since about 3rd year. I was positive when I followed Sky down from the dorm one night in 4th year. I'm not as dumb as the rest of the rocks we're forced to associate with." Lily said like it was nothing.

I smirked at my friend's intelligence while all the other guys had their jaws dropped.

"Well that's one less awkward moment. But now comes the real reason why you're up here. But I just want to remind you of the oath you took to not be a rat." I said and Lily nodded.

"We need you to come up with some excuse to get a pass from preferably Slughorn to get into a certain greenhouse." I said.

"For…?" she asked, trailing off.

"We need you to get Athalas and the nectar from the Fire Plant." Sirius said.

"What are you planning to do?" Lily asked suspiciously.

I looked around at James, Remus, and Peter and then looked back and up at Sirius. When I looked at them, they all nodded.

"We, as in myself James, Peter and Sirius, want to become animagi." I said with a sigh.

"WHAT?" Lily yelled.

"Thank God I made the door soundproof." I heard Remus mutter.

"That's illegal! You can't do that!" Lily screamed at us. I winced, knowing that this wouldn't be easy.

"Lily, Remus is a werewolf. I've seen him transform before. They are unbearable to watch, and I can only imagine what it is like for him to actually transform. We're only doing this so we can be with Remus during that night. Since we can't be with him as humans, becoming an animagus is the only way." I said.

I was almost pleading with Lily and she still looked skeptical. She got up from her chair and started to pace. I gave everyone the "let her think" look and we were all silent. Lily paced for the longest time. We let her pace and then she stopped.

"I guess I'll do it. But only for Remus." She finally said. I jumped up and gave Lily a huge hug.

"Keep flirting. I'll go to bed so it doesn't seem awkward." Lily breathed in my hair.

I nodded and then we both turned to Remus.

"Thank you….so much Lily." Remus said with difficulty.

She went over to him and gave him a big hug. She yawned, which I could tell was fake but it convinced the others, and then left to go to bed. I went with her but then turned back to eves drop.

"Why does she call you Padfoot?" James asked.

"I call her Songbird and she calls me Padfoot." Sirius said simply.

"Why though?" James asked.

"She says that I run faster than anything on 2 legs that she can think of and she had a dog once that ran like I did, so she calls me Padfoot. I call her Songbird because she sings like an angel and flies like a hawk." Sirius explained. I blushed silently at his compliments.

"Hey Sky!"

"SHHH!" I hushed Cloud as he came bounding down the stairs.

"Try-outs are this Friday after dinner. Tell James." Cloud whispered. I nodded and then turned back to the conversation.

"Why Wormtail?" I heard Peter ask.

"Because we all know that you are going to become a rat as an animagus." James said.

"I don't understand Moony though." Remus said.

"The full moon and all dealing with your issue." James said.

"But that leaves the trouble of your name James. You're going to be a stag, so what could we call you?" Sirius asked.

I felt a little left out that they didn't share this spell or whatever to find out your animagus with me, but I thought about James's nickname.

"Prongs." I whispered to myself.

I opened the door with a grand entrance kind of flare.

"I'd call you Prongs." I said.

I went and sat in Sirius's lap and leaned against his chest to get comfortable again.

"Were you eves dropping?" James asked as Remus magically shut the door. He put the usual spells over it.

"It was you who forgot to make the door non eves droppable after I left." I said. James shrugged and agreed.

"Kind of sounds like a secret code." Peter said.

"Why shouldn't we, the infamous Marauders, have our own secret code?" I asked with unnecessary fervor.

"You're right. But why did you come back up here, Songbird? I thought you went to bed with Lily." Remus asked, quite enjoying the nicknames.

"Well, Moony, I came back up because I saw a sign about Quidditch try-outs in the common room. I came back up to tell Prongs that they are going to be on Friday." I said, also using the nicknames.

James did a silent celebration on his bed by doing something like flip after punching the air. We all laughed at James. Then the five of us that were left talked and talked for hours about all the cool stuff that we would be able to do when we became animagi. I ended up falling asleep during the conversation. Sirius's body heat kept me plenty warm and his heartbeat was soothing.

I woke up to hear the buzz of Sirius's deep voice in his chest. I kept my eyes closed but still listened.

"So you gonna ask her to the dance?" I heard James ask.

"I don't know. I don't want to ruin our friendship if something should happen." Sirius said.

"She's not exactly the ugliest thing to walk the face of the earth though, Sirius. If you don't ask her soon, someone else will." Remus said.

"And besides, who could deny you? You practically are a magnet for girls." Peter said.

"But she's different. If I'm a magnet, then Songbird has to be some type of wood because she hasn't been attracted to me." Sirius said.

I smiled "in my sleep" and cuddled closer to Sirius. He put an arm around my waist in a sort of hug.

"But why do you not want to ask her?" Remus said, getting back to the original point.

"I really REALLY like her and she's the only girl I've really had my eye on. I've tried making her jealous but it doesn't seem to work. I was hoping that she would grow to like me, but it just seems like she doesn't." Sirius said.

I was shocked by this but didn't show it.

"Just ask her. You never know until you've tried." Peter said.

Sirius laughed. "You know, she said the same thing. Too bad she didn't know that she was talking about herself." Sirius said chuckling.

I smiled a little bigger and sort of rolled on my side in Sirius's arm. He put the other arm around my waist and held me closer.

Then suddenly I couldn't breathe. It felt like something was clogging my air way and it wouldn't come out. My eyes shot open and I put a hand to my throat. I tried to take breaths but it wouldn't work. It was almost like my lungs were refusing to take in air.

"Songbird? Songbird? SKY?" Sirius asked becoming frantic.

The last thing I remembered before I black out was Sirius ordering James to go ahead of him and alert Madam Pomfrey.


	5. Finished

I woke up only after what seemed like hours. It was just at daybreak and I looked around. I couldn't sit up because my limbs felt like lead. I looked around to see Cloud asleep in one chair by my bed and Sirius asleep in another. I was eventually able to pull myself into a sitting position but it didn't last long. This is was because Cloud tackled me down in a hug.

"Never scare me like that again, Sky." He said breathlessly.

"You know me Cloud. I'm tough." I said trying to make him feel better.

He held me at arm's length to look me over.

"So does anyone know what happened to me?" I asked once Cloud was done with his inspection.

"We were hoping that you would tell us." Cloud said.

I sighed and then told him about everything that happened on that day.

"By the way, how long have I been out?" I asked when I was finished.

"About a week." Cloud said gravely.

I sat back against the headboard in shock. If I had been out a week, that meant that Remus would have already transformed. I looked around the hospital wing to see that Remus was lying asleep on a bed near me. I sighed to myself knowing that he went through all right.

"Yeah, Remus came on Saturday looking like that. I don't know why though." Cloud said. I nodded and kept quiet.

"So what do you think happened?" I asked.

"I don't know. You were only with me and your friends during that day." Cloud said.

I kind of twisted the facts to say that we were in the guy's dorm from lunch to dinner.

"I do remember that I had a hard time swallowing the mashed potatoes at lunch that day." I said off handedly.

"Maybe you were poisoned." Cloud said lowly.

The sun was peaking in the high windows by now. I looked to see that it was close to 11 o'clock in the morning.

"That is always a possibility." I said with another sigh.

"But who would be out to kill you?" Cloud asked.

I looked at Sirius and everything he said came back to me. I took his hand in mine, being careful not to wake him, and stroked it with my thumb.

"I could think of a few people." I said vaguely.

"You know that Sirius has been here almost the entire time you have. He hasn't left that chair but for about a minutes every five or six hours to use the loo. I think he really likes you a lot." Cloud informed me. I raised my eyebrows.

"I do too." I said, still being vague.

"GOOD LORD YOU'RE AWAKE!" I heard Madam Pomfrey say loudly.

I looked behind me to see that she was using a bedside table to support her and she was clutching her heart. Her sudden loudness jerked Sirius awake. He sat up quickly and saw me sitting up and smiling at him. He rubbed his eyes to clear them of what I thought was stray dreams and sleepiness and then looked at me again.

"Hi, Sirius." I said quietly.

He suddenly tackled me down in a hug. I laughed quietly and then hugged him back with a huge grin on my face. He looked me in the eyes. He had bags under his now watering eyes.

"I thought I'd lost you. We all did." He whispered.

"I'm not going to go down that easily." I said just as quietly with a smile on my face.

He hugged me again and I squeezed him back.

"Okay, Mr. Black. You can catch Miss. Strife up on what she missed after I'm done with her." Madam Pomfrey said.

Sirius begrudgingly let go of me but still held my hand tightly as the nurse checked me over.

"For almost dying, you seem no worse for wear. You can go when you want. Miss Evans left some clothes here for when you came around." She finally said.

I sighed in relief as she ushered the boys out and put up a divider so I could change. Lily brought me a simple pair of dark blue jeans and a plain black shirt. That's like Lily though. I changed and put on the pair of ballet flats that Lily had also brought for me. I walked out to see Cloud and Sirius standing and waiting for me. I linked arms with both of them as Sirius caught me up on everything that happened.

"James and Lily have been in a couple times. Peter too with Remus. But then Remus had his thing and James and Peter had to help him with that. Lily has been in there a lot. More than the other three. But they were busy with their own things and I think you'll forgive them." Sirius explained vaguely.

I nodded knowing that the others were more likely than not working on the map. Remus I would definitely forgive because of his werewolf issues. Cloud however was lost.

"It's nothing Cloud." I said to calm his nerves.

The two of them led me to the Great Hall.

"It's lunch time right now." Cloud said, looking at his watch. I guess an hour had passed in the time we were wandering around.

"Guess it is." I said. I heard the rumble of people talking and the clinking of cutlery on plates.

"Shall we?" Sirius asked in the gentlemanly fashion.

"Yes we shall." I said putting on a huge smile.

Sirius and Cloud pushed open one door apiece so they both opened at the same time. I was greeted by the roar of applause from the Gryffindor table and a little bit from the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables. I walked triumphantly to my seat with my friends. Lily immediately got up and gave me a huge hug.

"I got it. The boys just wanted to wait for you." Lily said into my hair. I hugged her tighter and squealed.

I sat with Sirius on one side of me and Lily on the other after I gave out hugs to James and Peter. We started a conversation about Quidditch and the tryouts. Zac had apparently pushed them back until the end of the month so I could try out. He thought that I would be okay by then. James told me about how Regulas and his little friends acted like it was a good thing and that they were happy that I almost died. That led to them getting into some trouble because Regulas came out and said that he did it to show off. He had detention for the next month everyday with Professor Dumbledore. I reached around to get some food but then spotted a large bowl of mashed potatoes.

"GET THEM AWAY FROM ME!" I shouted, jumping back and out of my seat and into some 3rd year Ravenclaws.

Cloud made the bowl disappear just as James was about to get some.

"What was that for?" James asked, irritated.

I took my seat as Cloud explained that I thought the mashed potatoes almost did me in. The rest of the meal went smoothly and as we were all about to leave, Sirius pulled me aside.

"Can you meet me in the ROR at four this afternoon?" he asked.

"Sure. Why do you need to meet me there?" I asked.

"It's a surprise." He said mysteriously.

I smiled and then we went our separate ways. He went somewhere else while I went up to my dorm room. I found it a mess of books. There were Lily's books, my books, and books I've never seen before thrown everywhere. I picked some of them up to see that they were mostly about poison and their antidotes. There was a couple about animagi too. I assumed that Lily was doing research before she let us change ourselves into illegal animagi. I went over to my dresser and pulled out a new pair of jeans and then a white tee shirt. I then went to my bureau and pulled out a cropped jean jacket that matched the wash of the jeans. I went into the attached bathroom and took a long shower. I then dried my hair magically and put it up into a messy bun after I ran some gel through it. I put on my clothes and then walked out into the dorm room. I looked into mirror and saw that I looked kind of casual for going to meet Sirius for a surprise. After what he said the night I choked, I never know what it could be. I quickly changed into a bright blue camisole. I put a black jean jacket on over it just as Lily was walking in the door.

"Why so dressed up?" Lily asked.

I came up from finding my brown high-heeled sandal from under my bed. I had the other sitting on top so I sat down and put them on. I explained to Lily everything about the conversation the night I choked and she seemed really deep in thought as I put on some black eyeliner and clear lip gloss.

"Well, just go with the flow. And I'd get going if I were you." Lily said.

I looked up at our wall clock and saw that it was about ten to four. I thanked Lily and then ran skillfully down the girl's stairs. I ran as far as I could in the heels I was wearing but then stopped running and took some short cuts that I knew of to get to the 7th floor faster. I made it with about two minutes to spare. I found Sirius looking really good. He had a black button down shirt and a pair of black jeans on. The first couple buttons on his shirt were undone, showing off a little of his perfect chest.

"Good you made it." He said excitedly.

I stood by as Sirius paced in front of the blank stretch of wall. When the door appeared I was seriously expecting something really romantic or extravagant for me, but I got neither. I was met with the same room that my friends and I had used for our map making. I saw that there were several pieces of parchment lying on the center of the table. Sirius took my hand after closing the door behind us. He led me over to the table. I sat down with him across from me, giving me a kind of ecstatic joker smile. The top sheet of paper read: "The Marauder's Map. Made by the greatest Pranksters to ever walk the Halls of Hogwarts: Misters Padfoot, Moony, Wormtail, Prongs and Miss Songbird" I flipped the next page and saw it was the top floor of the school finished? It was done? I flipped through the rest of the pieces of parchment and saw that it was every floor of the school totally mapped out and done. Even the grounds were done.

"Sirius, it's finished! I can't believe it! It's done!" I squealed.

I got up from my seat and gather Sirius around the neck in a hug. He laughed and, for the first time, I noticed that it was a bark like laugh.

"Sirius, what animal are you going to be as an animagus?" I asked out of random.

"A dog. You want to find out what you are going to be?" Sirius asked.

"Yes please." I said.

I got up and then walked around the table quickly to Sirius.

"This is quite simple my dear. I just need you to stand there and keep your eyes closed until I say open them." Sirius said.

I stood with my eyes closed just like Sirius said. I heard Sirius say a strange spell then I felt a feeling like something was getting drawn out of my like a vacuum.

"Open your eyes quickly." Sirius said.

I opened my eyes and saw that a smoke like substance was forming a bird. It was no ordinary bird either. It was a mockingbird, the most horribly sad bird on the earth.

"I guess I chose right." Sirius said laughing.

I laughed too but then turned back to the map.

"You know, it's really not done. We want to fix it were it shirks down to a smaller size and then we want to find a spell to put people that move and change on it." Sirius said.

He leaned against the table as I bent over the map. If only we had a book on how to do those exact things. Almost like a guide on how to make a magical map.

"What's that?" Sirius asked.

We both found a book at the far end of the table. It was huge almost two feet in width and about three feet in length. It was extravagantly decorated and about a foot in thickness.

""A Guide to Magical Map-Making. For All of You Map Making Needs"?" Sirius read off the front.

We both opened it to find the table of contents with everything that we need. We first flipped to the section entitled "Making a Big Map Pocket Sized". It had different methods on making a map smaller and more condensed. We ended up using the spell to connect the map at a center point and just having different folds for different floors. When we finished it ended up being small and then enough to fit into Sirius's back pocket without any sign of disturbance. We then turned to the section with the title "Adding People and Things onto Your Map". We turned to the subsection "Making people move and change". It told us a spell to put people on the map the moved with their real life counterpart and, as people came and went in and out of the castle, the dots would also change to accommodate the people on the map. It was best done in groups, depended on the size of the map. Sirius and I tried to spell together on the old piece of parchment that we used for the grounds. There was a new piece and that was attached to the whole map. The spell worked perfectly. We saw all the centaurs moving around and we saw Slughorn conversing with Hagrid in his hut and everything.

"Shall we get the others?" I asked.

Sirius nodded and then pulled out the two-way mirror from his pocket. He said James into and then James's face appeared in it.

"We found it." Sirius said shortly.

"Found what?" James asked irritated.

"Where are you?" Sirius asked.

"The dorm room, why?" James asked back.

"We found the way to put people on the map and make them move and change." Sirius said.

James's face brightened visibly.

"Bring Wormtail and Moony if he is able with you to the ROR. Just use the working on the map need." Sirius said.

James nodded then disappeared. Sirius pocketed the mirror and then turned back to me.

"So now we wait?" I asked.

"Yes we wait." Sirius said.


	6. Gauntlet

I walked over to the table and sat backwards on the bench. I leaned against the table part and stuck my feet out to be lounging.

"So Songbird..." Sirius started.

"Yes Padfoot." I said in the same tone.

"Do you know what you're wearing to the dance?" Sirius asked.

I thought about it. The dance was in less than a month and I hadn't even though about what I was wearing.

"I have no clue. I'll just go to Hogsmeade with the rest of the school and fight over the dresses." I said with a shrug.

"I don't think so. There's a passage we can take to get into Hogsmeade. If you want to go early to get the best dress you can." Sirius said.

I thought about it for a little bit but before I could give him an answer, James, Peter and Remus walked in. Remus was really pale but still looked very happy to see me. I gave him a big and we talked very briefly before the five of us got to work.

"So you found what now?" James asked, looking at the map that was now smaller.

"That book. It is all about making magical maps." I said, pointing out the huge book.

Remus and Peter looked at while James inspected the small chunk of the map that Sirius and I already animated.

"So what spell did you use?" Peter asked.

"The one about halfway down the left hand page." I said casually. I was still sitting down and lounging.

"So you want to use the one for making people change and move as their real life person does?" Remus said.

I nodded. Sirius showed Peter and Remus the small portion of the map. Once everyone was convinced that it was going to work, we all gathered around the map.

"On three?" I asked and everyone nodded.

I counted to three and we all said the spell. There was a bright light. When it was clear, all that sat on the table was the blank map.

"Did it work?" Peter asked.

"Only one way to find out. I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." I said tapping the map.

Then, as if a hand was writing it, the first page like I saw it before we did the spell appeared. I opened the map and there everyone was. All of the students and teachers were clearly labeled on the map. Even the ghosts were labeled. I jumped up and down for joy and attacked Sirius, who was standing next to me, in a hug.

"It's finished!" I squealed.

I really never thought that it would be finished while I was in school. I thought that we would have to pass it down to our children for them to finish. But it was done. In less than a year, the Marauders Map was complete.

"Did Sirius show you the clearing spell that we put on it?" James asked.

I shook my head no and James tapped the map grandly.

"Mischief Managed." He said with more emphasis than necessary.

I laughed at loud at this choice of words but it did seem to fit.

"Pete came up with that." James said, slapping Peter on the back.

"Nice one Wormtail." I said laughing.

"And there is one more thing that Remus came up with." James said.

"Oh yeah! I remember that. Tap the map without saying anything." Sirius said.

I tapped the map and then there seemed to be that invisible hand writing on the front of the map again. In what looked like James's handwriting, it read: "Mr. Prongs would like to welcome Miss Songbird back to the Marauders." I laughed a little bit at this. In what seemed like Peter's handwriting, it said: "Mr. Wormtail would like to take a brief moment to say how worried she made all of us. We could never have had a normal life without her." I laughed and awed at Peter. He shuffled his feet and looked down. Remus's handwriting read: "Mr. Moony would like to say that, even though we were all worried about her, that worry was turned into pure determination to complete this map for her." I laughed harder at this and Remus seemed to become suddenly uncomfortable. In Sirius's messy scrawl it said: "Mr. Padfoot would like to say that, no matter what, he has never been so happy to see Miss. Songbird in his life." I laughed really hard and looked at Sirius. He seemed to blush but he looked away to hide it. And then suddenly, my handwriting was being written on the map. "Miss. Songbird would like to say to herself that if she is going to open the map, she should do it quickly. And Miss. Songbird would also like to remind herself that it was she that created the password to begin with." Then suddenly all of the writing disappeared. I was doubled over in laughter by this time.

"That is brilliant Moony. That is classic." I said, as I was calming down.

"Well, I think it's about time for dinner." Sirius said looking at his watch.

James cleared the map and then I grabbed it from him and stuck it in my back pocket. I linked arms with both Sirius and Remus. We all walked out of the ROR laughing and just enjoying life. It was good to be back.

"Oh so you didn't die. Pity. The school would be rid of one Mudblood lover." I heard a silky voice say from behind me.

I turned around to see Regulas Black and Severus Snape. They were followed by a couple little first and second years who look like they were either too scared to run away or too enthralled by Regulus's presence to realize what was going on. Regulas was smirking while the rest seem to almost be bodyguards to him. I rolled my eyes and then turned to walk away.

"I wouldn't be so confident, princess. You might want to watch your back from now on." Regulas called in a casual way.

I froze and shivered involuntarily at Regulas's nickname for me.

"Back off little brother." I heard Sirius say in my defense.

"I'll handle it Sirius. Don't worry about me." I whispered to him.

I unlatched my arms and then turned to totally face Regulas.

"If you mean watch my back, are you planning to take this?" I asked, pulling the map from my back pocket.

"Whatever you take it as." Snape said.

"It's a plain piece of parchment. Look for yourself." I said with a smirk.

I threw the map on the floor exactly halfway between us. It was like the gauntlet being thrown in a battle. Regulas took his wand out and then walked forward to pick up the map. He picked it up off the floor and tapped it. I watched his face turn sour.

"Care to read that out loud? As a prefect, I would like to know what is written." Remus said in an honestly interested tone.

"Mr. Prongs would like to extend a word of advice to Mr. Regulas Black. Mr. Prong would like to advise stop sleeping with everything that moves and focus on the important things, like taking a shower. Mr. Wormtail would like to also extended this advise to the rest of Mr. Regulas Black's party. Take a bath you scumbags. Mr. Moony would like to say that it very uncouth to curse in front of a lady. You should feel ashamed of yourself. Mr. Padfoot would like to send his love to a certain little aggravation that should never have walked the halls in the first place. Regulas, make sure that your fan club gets home safely. Miss. Songbird would like to take a different approach than her friends and congratulate Regulas and his party on reaching a whole new level of patheticness. They should all get a medal for being the slimiest man whores to walk the halls of Hogwarts." Regulas read out loud.

His voice seemed forced and tight like he didn't want to say what the map said, but he didn't want to get in deeper trouble more than that. I snickered while Regulas's party glared daggers at me.

"Paratoi i farw, tywysoges." Regulas said in a dangerous tone.

This knocked me off my feet. I didn't know he knew that language.

"Byddaf yn cael aros yn." I called as he walked away with his friends.

"Sky, what was that?" James asked.

I just turned on my heels, thinking fast enough to send a normal person into a tailspin. I needed to find Cloud. He could help me.

A/N: I didn't make up this language. I won't tell you what language it is, but it is NOT gibberish, I promise you that.


	7. Ask Me

I stalked off leaving the boys trailing after me. Remus was smart enough to grab the map before I did though. All the time the guys were asking me what went on. I really wished I could tell them, but I didn't even know. I ended up breaking into a sprint up the boy's stairs. I kept this sprint up all the way to Cloud's dorm. I slammed the door open to find Cloud reading on his bed. I quickly closed the door and sealed it shut before the guys could follow and/or listen in.

"What do you need Sky?" Cloud asked.

I then launched into the explanation, including the map, of what just happened. He stayed silent until I was done, thinking all of it over.

"Are you sure that's what he said?" Cloud asked.

"I know that just as well as you do. I'm pretty sure that's what he said." I fumed.

All this time I had been pacing and I still was pacing in my fury.

"Just lay low. He hasn't done anything yet, so just take it easy and keep a low profile for a while." Cloud said.

"You promise not to tell on me for having that map?" I asked before I left.

"Yeah of course. Anyway, I'm not sure if it's technically illegal." Cloud said with a smirk.

I smiled back before unsealing the door and then going to see the boys. I got down to the dorm to find it locked and sealed shut. I knocked twice quickly and then once slowly. The door opened for me and I found each of the boys on his own bed and Lily was lounging in her comfy armchair. Unfortunately, they were all glaring daggers at me.

"What was said between you two?" Sirius asked in a deadly tone.

I've never seen him this mad at me. It was almost scary. I looked at my shoes, unable to really look any of them in the eye. I hadn't done anything wrong so I didn't really get why it was so hard.

"I had to make sure I was ri-"

"What was said Sky?" Sirius said.

He got up from the bed and stalked over to me. He grabbed my wrist and pulled it so I had to look at him.

"You want to know? He said, "Prepare to die princess." And I said, "I'll be waiting." That was what was said, Sirius. Happy that you found out now?" I asked, raising my voice to a yell. I jerked my hand away from Sirius and then spoke to the rest of the room.

"I can tell where I'm not wanted. I will not impress my existence upon you anymore." I said.

My voice was cracking. I was on the verge of crying. I slammed the door and then quickly ran down the stairs and out of the Gryffindor tower. I ran and ran and ran until I noticed where I was. I was at my spot by the lake. I don't know how my feet carried me here, but they did. I went over and sat on my rock. I sobbed into my knees and then after a while, I started to sing.

"What If I wanted to break? Laugh it all off in your face. What would you do? What if I fell to floor? Couldn't take all this anymore. What would you do, do, do? Come break me down Bury me, bury me. I am finished with you. What if I wanted to fight? Beg for the rest of my life? What would you do? You say you wanted more. What are you waiting for? I'm not running from you."

I couldn't sing anymore. I was too choked up. But suddenly I heard a rustling in the bushes.

"You come to kill me Regulas?" I asked in a hollow voice.

"I would never kill you, Songbird." I heard Sirius's voice say from behind me.

I stiffened up as he came to sit next to me.

"I'm so sorry. I can't put into words how much I am sorry for what I did up in the dorm room. I was just jealous of my little brother. I thought that he said something that you liked or something to that affect and you said something like that back. I didn't know and I'm really sorry." Sirius said.

I looked at him and his face was coated with regret and sadness.

"Sirius, I'm really scared this time. I really can't keep a solid composure anymore. I'm scared to death of what Regulas could do. He's got Snape and all those little minions around him. I know that Regulas really can't do much now because of his detentions, but Snape is still free. And you know the rumors. They put a kid in St. Mungo's for life Sirius. I just can't be strong anymore." I said, breaking down again.

I pulled my knees up to my chin and sobbed into them. Then suddenly I felt a pair of strong arms come around me. Sirius had taken me into his arms. I wrapped my arms around his strong chest and cried. He stroked my back and was talking to me. I couldn't understand what he was saying, but I really didn't care. After a while I stopped crying. I still stayed in Sirius's arms because it just felt right.

"Songbird?" Sirius asked.

"Yes Sirius." I said in response.

"On the night you choked, how much of the conversation did you hear?" he asked.

"I heard everything after James asked you if you were going to ask me to the dance." I said honestly.

Sirius was silent for a long time. I sat up and looked at him. He was thinking.

"That's not exactly the way I would have hoped you found out. But, nonetheless, I stand by what I said. I have waited the longest for you and I will continue to wait for you, Songbird. You're my best friend, but I really want us to be more. If you recall, I said I had dated every girl except one and Lily. That one girl is you." Sirius said.

He was looking dead into my eyes and I knew he was being honest with me. But I was too stunned at this confession to say anything in response.

"I can understand if you think I'm only doing this to get the last notch in my belt, for a lack of better terms. But I only want one thing before you reject me. I just want to know that I at least got one kiss from you." Sirius said.

I still couldn't say anything so I just nodded. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. I closed my eyes as his lips came closer to mine. They were so warm and soft that I just wanted more. He was kissing me gently, almost like he wasn't sure if he could do this. I pushed my lips to his with a little bit of force to tell him it was all right. He then started to kiss me with a little more force. I matched him and then he did something that I never expected. He ran his tongue along my lower lip, asking for entrance. I parted my lips a little bit and let him in. His tongue entered my mouth slowly but then once he saw that I wasn't objecting, he started to explore and play with my tongue a bit. I moaned slightly at the way that this felt. I didn't care if the entire school was watching, I just wanted have this kiss last forever. It felt so right to be in his arms and have him this close to me. After what seemed like a lifetime, we both broke away.

"Wow." I finally said.

"I guess that's a good thing." He said with a chuckle.

I kissed him quickly and then said, "Yes a VERY good thing."

I smiled as he laughed. I leaned against his chest and sighed. He wrapped his arms around me and I still had my arms around him. He put his head on top of mine.

"Sirius, I don't want this moment to ever end." I said.

"Well, love, it has to. We have to go back to the school soon. The sun will be coming up soon and your brother will kill me if I keep you out here any longer than that." Sirius said.

I half laughed at this but then sighed.

"But what do you say? Are going to be my girl?" Sirius asked.

"Let's just test the waters a little before I say a definite "Yes I'm going to be your girlfriend." Then we can see if we can handle being more than just best friends." I said.

"That's better than what I thought you were going to say." Sirius said.

"What do you mean?" I asked, sitting up and sweeping my hair over my shoulder.

"I thought you were going to flat out refuse." Sirius admitted, rubbing his arm uncomfortably.

"How could I say no to that face?" I said in a baby talk voice. I grabbed his chin in that grandmother kind of way and just gave it a little shake.

"How could I resist yours?" Sirius said, putting the back of his hand to my cheek.

He leaned in and gave me a quick kiss. I smiled and then looked at the horizon to see that the sun was setting.

"We have to go back don't we?" I asked, almost upset that I had to go back.

"Yes, love we have to go back." Sirius said, just as disappointed.

I got up off the boulder and Sirius followed me.

"May I?" Sirius asked.

I was slightly confused but nodded anyway. He slid his fingers through mine, holding my hand.

"Were you like this with all of your other girl friends?" I asked, teasing him.

"That's one thing I will have to ask you not to talk about. While I'm with you, you are the only girl in my life. There will be no one after you and, for all intents and purposes, there has been no one before you." Sirius said seriously. He stopped me to look me in the eyes.

"Oh and by the way, do you want to go to the dance with me?" Sirius asked out of random.

I smiled and then jumped on him in a hug. I let go but still kept my hands around his neck.

"Yes Sirius. I'll go to the dance with you." I said with a huge smile.

He smiled just as big and then picked me up around the waist. I squealed as he spun me around about seven times. He was laughing at my squealing. I started to giggle after a few seconds. When Sirius stopped he had me pinned up against a tree. I put my legs around his waist and smiled down at him.

"You don't know how long I've been waiting to hear that." Sirius said.

I leaned down and gave him a quick kiss. But then he then turned it into a much longer but still sweet kiss. He slid me carefully down the tree to his level all while kissing me with a romantic passion. We broke away after a little bit and then continued our walk back to the castle. We ran up to our dorms. Sirius gave me a kiss before we said goodnight and headed up to our respective dorms. Lily was already asleep, even though it was only a little past ten. I decided to let it go; if she wants to fake being asleep for whatever reason, then she could. I fell asleep almost as soon as I had laid my head on my pillow. My dreams that night were full of bright colors, and memories of Sirius.


	8. The Tip of the Proverbial Iceberg

When I came down from my dorm I saw Sirius and the rest of the guys arguing. Well, it seemed more like everyone against Sirius. But he suddenly stopped the conversation to walk over to me.

"Good morning. I'm going to have to ask you to go to breakfast and your first classes without me. I would walk you to your first class, but I'm sort of busy." Sirius said shortly but in a voice no louder than a whisper.

I looked at him concerned but he shook his head. I was going to kiss him but he put a finger to my lips and mouthed "later" to me. I nodded and then walked out of the common room with my bag.

Before I left, I heard James yell, "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU! SHE'S YOUR BEST FRIEND!"

I ran through my schedule, which was almost the same as everyone else's:

BREAKFAST

Transfiguration with Lily

BREAK

Arithmancy with Remus

LUNCH

BREAK

Potions with everyone

BREAK

History of Magic with James

DINNER

Yeah, that's our schedules. Lots of fun. I went down to find Lily sitting with someone else. This new girl was sitting in my seat. I went up to her and politely tapped her shoulder.

"I think that you are in my seat." I said in a nice voice.

"I didn't know that there was assigned seats." This girl said in a bitchy tone.

"She's right Sky. There are no assigned seats. She was here first." Lily said in a ice cold voice.

"Tiger, what's up with you?" I asked, seriously hurt.

I called Lily "Tiger" because of the flower. You know, tiger lily.

"My name isn't Tiger, Sky. And I know that there aren't any assigned seats, so please find somewhere else to sit before I assign you detention." Lily threatened, glaring daggers at me.

"Lills, I don't know what has gotten into you." I said, my voice starting to crack.

I stalked off to the back of the classroom as Professor McGonagal came into the room. She started the lesson, but I couldn't care less. I sat all lesson in the back of the room crying silently. I didn't know what got into Lily, but it hurt me. I looked up to see that McGonagal was well into a lecture. I said a spell to make her impervious to my talking, along with the rest of the room. I pulled out the mirror that James, Sirius, and I shared. I said Sirius's name into it and waited.

"Whatcha need, Songbird?" Sirius asked after a few seconds.

"Lily has lost her mind." I said.

"Hold on. Let me get out of here." Sirius said.

I looked behind him to see that he was in the common room. I couldn't see anything for a little while and I assumed he was going up to his dorm.

"So what do you mean that she has lost her mind?" Sirius asked.

I only saw crimson around him so I assumed he had the curtains drawn around his bed.

"Well, I walked into Transfiguration and some girl was sitting in my seat. I asked her politely to move but then she got all shirty with me about it and Lily threatened me with detention if I didn't find another seat. Do you have any idea what that's about?" I explained.

Sirius thought about it for a few seconds.

"I think I might. James, Remus, and Peter were verbally attacking me when you came down the girls' stairs. Someone started something that we were doing more than just hanging out by the lake. James took it seriously and jumped down my throat about it. Lily might have heard it and got mad too." Sirius reasoned.

"But who would say that? EVERYONE knows that we are "just friends"." I said.

I quoted the "just friends" part because no one really knows what happened that night.

"Well, my brother and his friends are always out to get you for some reason, so that could be it. Or it could just be some blonde bitch spreading stupid stuff around." Sirius said in a thinking tone.

"Well maybe I should talk to someone who I can get on my side. He might be able to clear our names." I said.

"Who do you have in mind?" Sirius asked.

"Cloud. He'll believe me over some stupid rumor." I said.

Suddenly the bell rang.

"I'll see you in DADA." I said.

"Yes you will, babe." Sirius said in a smooth voice.

I laughed and put my mirror away. I gathered my things and then ran out of the room. I jogged all the way to the DADA room. When I got there, I found Sirius sitting at an empty table in the back of the classroom. I smiled and sat down next to him.

"You look like you've been crying." Sirius said in a caring voice.

"It's nothing." I said brushing it off.

"No it's not. What happened, Songbird?" Sirius asked, more serious now. He grabbed my chin and made me look at him.

"It's just that Lily thing." I said, still brushing it off.

Sirius looked at me critically for a second and then smiled.

"Okay, I'll believe you. But there is one more thing. I think I still owe you a kiss from earlier." Sirius said in a low voice.

"Not here, Padfoot. They'll see." I said.

I looked away, but Sirius made me look back at him.

"Then let them see. It is just a kiss, not a crime." Sirius said.

He smiled at me again, and I couldn't help but melt. I let him give me a quick but sweet kiss on the lips before we both turned to face the front of the room. That's when I realized that everyone in the classroom had been watching us. I looked down and blushed. I felt and had on my knee and saw it was only Sirius. I knew that he would be there for me, no matter what other people said. Then the second bell rang to start class. The entire room fell silent.

Our DADA teacher was strict and was very old fashioned. She walked into the room and the feeling of inferiority swept across the room. I looked up with my head still bent to see that she was walking down the spiral stairs.

"Good morning class." She said.

Her voice really took away from the friendly greeting and turned it into a warning to anyone that still dared to talk.

"Good Morning Professor Zora." The class chanted at her.

I rolled my eyes silently at her. I really never liked Zora and she really didn't like me.

"Will Miss. Strife please stand and come to the front of the room." Zora commanded.

I gritted my teeth and stood up. Sirius looked up at me and I told him with my eyes not to say anything. I held my head high and set my face. I walked up to the front of the room as Zora told me to.

"There have been several students today saying that you and elder Mr. Black were out past curfew last night. Do you deny this?" Zora asked.

"No, but who are you to ask me? I don't think you are the headmaster or my head of house." I said. I didn't regret what I said and I knew what was coming.

"Well, I think that you should get at least 3 days of detention for that and then another 2 for the cheek you just gave me." Zora said.

"It wasn't cheek. I was just stating that you aren't my head of house and you most CERTAINLY not the headmaster, so I felt that you have no right to pry into my personal life." I said coolly.

"I would give you another week for that, but as it stands, you seem to be rather confident in yourself. I will let you off the hook for that last week if you can answer a question for me." Zora said. Her voice had a forced niceness to it and she was resisting all temptation to slap me.

"Okay, I'll answer your question. But how about this. Let's raise the stakes. If I answer your question correctly then I get out of that extra week. But if I can stump you with a question of my own, then I get out of everything." I said with a smirk on my face. I switched my weight to my left and sort of popped my right leg.

"Deal. But if I answer your question, then you do the extra week." Zora said. I smirked wider.

"Deal. Do your worst." I said.

She thought for a few minutes and the class waited on baited breath for her question.

"How do you become an animagus? In full detail please." She asked.

I laughed out loud. "That's it? That's all you want to know?" I asked, while laughing.

"I don't see how it is so funny." Zora said.

"Fine, I'll answer the question. You need to mentally prepare for up to 6 years. It takes years to research the method on how to do it. But when it comes down to the actual turning into the animal, you need to say a spell to find out your form, eat the combination of fire flower nectar and Athalas leaves, then immediately think of the animal that the spell told you of." I said.

Zora looked stunned at my answer. I knew I was right, and she was dumbfounded.

"How did you find out about this?" Zora asked in a faint voice.

"I have an uncle whose friend became one." I said.

I suddenly found my fingernails very amusing. I was really racking my brain for anything that I might stump this old hag with.

"Well, what about your question." Zora asked.

I thought about everything that Cloud and I had gone over in our summer school hours. He taught me all kinds of advanced stuff. The only thing that I could think of was wandless magic. I was thinking about everything that you could do without a wand. Then my question struck me.

"What is the only spell known to wizard kind that you CANNOT perform without saying anything AND without using a wand?" I asked slowly.

Zora looked stunned at my knowledge. She seemed to be thinking very hard. Then her mouth moved but nothing came out of it.

"I'm sorry. I didn't hear that." I said politely.

"I don't know. As far as I know, you can't perform any spell without a wand." Zora said.

I smirked at myself. "I guess then I stumped you. No detention for me I guess. And to correct you, there is only one spell that you can't perform without saying anything AND without a wand. It is the killing curse. Everything else is able to be performed without saying anything and without a wand." I said.

I was thinking to myself the instant summoning spell for her wand. I caught it behind my back.

"Well, then. Just go back to your seat." Zora said.

I smirked and turned, making sure to hide her wand from her. I sat back down and put the wand across my lap. Sirius looked rather amused that I just tormented a teacher without getting in trouble.

"Now we shall start our lesson. Has anyone seen my wand?" Zora asked, putting her serious face back on.

I silently sent the wand back to her desk. I smirked and I weaved my hands and set my chin on them, being propped up by my elbows.

"Oh there it is. Now let's get started." She said and then started the lesson.


	9. Notes

I spent the rest of the class sending notes back and forth with Sirius. This is what it ended up saying:

"You have got some serious guts to openly talk about animagi. Nice cover though."—Sirius

"Yeah, well I didn't want the detention. Try-outs are in 3 days." – Me

"I almost forgot about those." –Sirius

"Some genius you are (rolls eyes)"—Me

"Oh ha ha. But how did you know about wandless and wordless magic?"—Sirius

"Cloud taught me. Lily knows a little about it. We spend an hour a day during the summers learning about advanced magic." –Me

"I am SOOO coming over next summer." –Sirius

"LoL"—me

"But when are you going to talk to Cloud?"—Sirius

"Probably after Arithmancy. I usually see him in the hall."—Me

"Well, just make sure he doesn't kill me. And good luck with Remus."—Sirius

"What do you mean by that?"—Me

"Remus was pretty pissed this morning and I don't know what he'll do when he sees you."—Sirius

"Well, we'll just see."—Me

That was the entire note passing. We finished up just as the bell rang. We gather up our things and then headed out to lunch. James, Remus and Peter sat in the middle of a crowd, but they were only socializing each other. There was no room to sit with any of them. Sirius took my hand and we sat at an empty section of the table near the doors. We ate in silence; I was fuming over the immaturity of my friend, but I couldn't figure out what Sirius was thinking. When lunch was over, Sirius got up with me and we walked out of the Great Hall.

"I've got to go this way." I said as Sirius followed me.

"I know." Sirius said.

"Why are you going with me?" I asked. I was still walking towards Arithmancy.

"I had some pretty mean things said to me on my way to DADA. I don't want you getting hurt." Sirius explained.

I gave in silently and let him walk me to my class. Surprisingly, I didn't see Cloud. I guess I'd just talk to him during the break.

"I'll be back to walk you to the tower for break. Wait for me." Sirius said. He took my upper arms in a caring way.

"I will, Sirius. You act like I'm a child." I said with a slight smile.

Sirius moved his hands to my waist and pulled me a little closer to him.

"I just want to make sure that you stay safe. You are my best friend and kind of little sister before you were ever my girlfriend." Sirius said.

"I'm not your girlfriend yet. I just want to test the waters for a while." I corrected.

"Same difference." Sirius shrugged.

I laughed and then went into Arithmancy. I found that the entire room was staring at me. I looked for Remus but both seats next to him were taken. I sighed and then sat down in the back of the room in an empty seat. I sat through that class bored out of my mind. I quickly left when the class was over. I was going to go straight to the tower for break, but then I remember that Sirius was coming to walk me there. I stood out of the way and waited for him.

"What are you waiting for, tramp?" one kid said as he passed me.

He purposely knocked into me really hard. I rubbed my shoulder but said nothing. I waited for Sirius a little bit more. Then suddenly a bunch of 6th years came and surrounded me.

"Hey. I heard that you slept with Sirius Black. Will you sleep with me too?" one of them asked me.

"No. I didn't sleep with Sirius." I said.

I was getting angry, I was more upset than anything.

"Don't deny it. Everyone knows that you and him were out in the woods together. One kid said that he saw the two of you come in holding hands and laughing." Another guy said.

"We've been friends for like ever. Ever stopped to consider that?" I asked with a hint of venom in my voice.

"Whoa, no need to jump down our throats. We were just asking for a one night stand like the one you gave that Black kid." The first guy said.

They started to close in on me and I started to panic.

"Hey get to class." I heard a familiar voice say.

"Get off to class before I have to assign you all to detention." I heard Cloud say again.

"We'll catch you later baby doll." The second guy said with a wink.

They all walked off, leaving me to face Cloud.

"Sky? Is that you? Are you alright?" Cloud asked quickly.

"Yeah I think I'm fine." I said, my voice faint.

"Oh my God, Sky. I am so sorry that I'm late. These guys attacked me on my way here." Sirius said running up to me while Cloud was checking to make sure I was really ok.

"Come on Sky. Let's get you to your dorm." Cloud said, completely ignoring Sirius.

"Hold on Cloud. You didn't even say hi to Sirius. That's rude of you." I said.

"We need to get you somewhere that you won't get into any trouble. Your dorm will be best." Cloud said, ignoring what I said as well.

"Cloud, what is up with you?" I asked, extremely offended.

"I think that you are the one with something wrong. You just think that you can do what you want without anything happening. I'm going to have to keep a closer eye on you." Cloud said.

"I'm not five anymore Cloud." I said, yanking myself away from Cloud who was trying to drag me to the tower.

"I know you're not. I'm just trying to make sure nothing bad happens to you." Cloud said.

"By taking me away from everyone to keep an eye on me?" I asked.

"If that's what it has to come down to, then yes." Cloud said.

"You believe the stupid rumors, don't you Cloud?" I asked, a little breathless.

"You mean the ones about you sleeping with Sirius? To be quite frank, I don't know. Sirius has quite a way with women and I don't know what he would tell you to complete his track record." Cloud said.

"I'm right here you know." Sirius said, interjecting.

"But we didn't do anything, Cloud!" I said, raising my voice a slight bit.

"How can I believe that?" Cloud asked venomously.

I sighed, agitated and then ripped the black and red ribbon I had around my neck, hanging, at all times. They were both part of the same necklace but there was a jewel hanging on the end. It was from my mother and Cloud's too. The black ribbon was one that she wore as a choker and the red one was one that every one of my weird family members wore. It was to remember my mother.

"I swear on their graves, Cloud, that nothing happened." I said calmly. Cloud looked a bit shocked but then went into thought.

"Nothing happened?" Cloud asked in a mischievous voice.

"Okay, we kissed and he asked me to the dance." I admitted shyly.

I rubbed the back of my neck after I hid my necklace again.

"Sirius, I have to speak with you." Cloud said, suddenly very serious.

Sirius gulped and followed Cloud down the hallway. I laughed and then walked away from the two. I found myself wandering out into the woods. I soon found a rather large clearing that was about the size of a classroom. I set down my backpack and looked around. It would the perfect place to train. There were only trees around the outside of the clearing in a circle sort of thing. There were bushes between a few of the trees. The ground was flat and free of any tree roots that I could trip on. I looked at my watch and saw that I still had an hour left in the double period break that I had. I summoned my two swords and some fighting clothes. I quickly changed and put on my swords. I used a spell that Cloud taught me whenever I wanted to train without him. It was used to create a shadow being type thing that did whatever you want. Cloud told me to only use it to fight with or else.

I made a faceless opponent and gave it Cloud's Ultima Weapon and Cloud's skill level. I took out my swords and then I started to fight my opponent. I fought with it slowly to get used to the surroundings but then after the first half-hour, I took it up a notch. I fought it harder than I fought Cloud and I was still losing to it. I was fighting the thing so hard that I almost didn't hear the warning alarm I set on my watch. I realized that I was out of time when the timer I set on the being ran out and it disappeared. I looked at my watch and saw that I was almost out of time in the bell cycle. I didn't even bother to change; I just left my clothes there and then grabbed my bag, which I quickly bewitched to be feather light. I ran full tilt to the dungeon and just barely made it into the classroom before the second bell rang. I summoned my cauldron wordlessly and wandlessly while I got my ingredients out. Slughorn came out licking his fingers. He must have just had some crystallized pineapple. I rolled my eyes silently as he started class. I felt someone tap my arm. I looked down to see that there was a note folded there. I opened it quickly and quietly as Slughorn talked about last night's homework that was just collected.

The note read: "What the fuck is up with the Swords?"

I wrote on there: "Done being a jackass, I see?"

I shoved it back over to James, who was on my left while Sirius was on my right. He wrote on it and then passed it to Remus, who was across the table from him. He wrote something on there and then passed it to Peter. He did the same thing and then finally passed it to Lily. She hesitantly wrote something down before sliding it down to Sirius. He read it and then slid it to me. It read after James's writing and mine:

"Yes I am. Cloud set us straight. I'm sorry" –James

"I'm sorry that I was so mean to you. I should have believed Sirius"—Remus

"I really am sorry that I believed a stupid rumor over my best friends." –Peter

"I'm sorry too. I just thought that you had found it more interesting to hang with someone else. I also thought that you would have told me first." –Lily

I smiled to myself in triumph. Cloud could always make things better, even if he was part of the problem in the first place.

"I forgive you guys" Sirius had written under those messages.

"I do too. And, to answer your question James, MYOB." I wrote quickly.

It was passed around the table without anyone writing anything at the bottom.

"So for today's class, since it is a double period, we are going to work on an advanced potion for a prize. At the end of class, whomever has created the closest thing to the potion on the board will get a VERY valuable prize. Now everything has been put in the cabinet for your use. Have at thee." Slughorn said.

He rapped the chalkboard with his wand and the procedure to the potion called The Draught of Happiness was there. The name struck me immediately. I had already made an antidote for it once. Cloud used it a lot after our mom and dad died. He tried to use it to cope with the grief. The only thing that happened, though, was an overdose that almost cost him his life. If he hadn't have taught me how to make antidotes the summer before, I would have had no older brother. I quickly went to the cupboard to get my stuff. I knew what was in it by heart.

I grabbed all of it and then started on my potion. I was already halfway done, or at least what the board instructions said was half way done, when everyone had finished preparing the ingredients. The feeling that I felt the night I found my brother over-dosed on the potion came back to me, causing me to work faster and even more carefully. By the time the double period was over, everyone had only gotten to the halfway point, but I had finished my potion AND I even was able to whip up the antidote. Slughorn walked around the room, looking critically into the cauldrons. His face visibly lightened as came over to my table.

"Very nice, Mr. Potter." He told James.

He walked the opposite way of me. He liked Peter's potion, he was proud of Remus's potion, he was dazzled by Lily's potion and he was very pleased with Sirius's potion.

"How did you finish it? There should have been a whole 10-minute simmering period that should be going on. And how were you able to make an antidote? That takes about 32 hours to be the consistency and color that it is in that form?" Slughorn asked, completely confused.

"It's a long story." I said lowly.

"Well, stay after class and tell it to me." Slughorn said seriously. I nodded as he straightened up.

"With her completed potion, Miss Strife gets the prize." Slughorn said grandly just as the bell rang.

After the class cleared out, Slughorn went up to his desk and sat down.

"How did you finish both the potion and its antidote in an hour and a half?" Slughorn asked.

"Multi-tasking and memorization." I said simply.

"You memorized how to make them both? Most students haven't seen that potion at your age. Explain it to me." Slughorn said.

"My brother, Cloud, was deeply depressed after our parents died and used the potion to try and cheer himself up to cope with the grief. Well, he ended up using too much and going into this coma-like state and he almost died. If Cloud hadn't have taught me how to quickly and correctly make antidotes, then I would have no older brother." I explained, kind of vaguely.

"And how old were you, at the time of this accident?" Slughorn asked.

"I was 10, about to turn 11 and Cloud was 13." I said.

Slughorn's eyebrows shot up alarmingly fast.

"To create an antidote of that complexity in that short of time is not only rare but VERY advanced, I hope you do know that." Slughorn said.

"Well, I would love to stay here and discuss my achievement but I think that Professor Flitwick will be angry if I am late." I said, pulling my messenger backpack on.

"Well, your prize is 5 passes out of any detention assignments by any teacher. They only have your name on them and they only can be used once. If you hurry you can run to class room and still make it." Slughorn said smiling.

I turned on my heels and then ran full tilt to the Charms room, barely being able to get into my seat before the bell rang. As soon as Flitwick started class, I felt something tap my arm. I looked down to see another note.

I opened it to see 3 words: "Tonight. ROR. Midnight."

They were in Lily's handwriting, so I looked strangely at Sirius.

He took the note back and wrote one word: "Animagi"

I beamed so big that it was scary. We were finally going to become animagi.


	10. Corrupting Lily

So here we all were in the ROR. Lily was busying herself with turning the Athalas into a pulp. Sirius, Peter, James, and myself were all standing around watching Lily make this strange mixture. She was done in about 15 minutes. She handed each of us a bowl and then stepped back.

"Okay, you have to eat this and then immediately think of your animagus form. That's all I could find so I hope you guys know what you're doing." Lily said.

"We don't have to eat this every time, right?" James asked, sniffing the stuff with a wrinkled nose.

I sniffed it a little too, out of curiosity. It smelt like a mixture of fire and sugar. Kind of like the sugar was burning. I had a strange feeling that it wouldn't taste like sugar though.

"On three, then?" Sirius said, looking down at his tiny bowl like it was his death sentence.

James, Peter and I nodded and then Remus started a slow count down. I tipped the mixture into my mouth and swallowed quickly. But I still got a taste of the putrid mix. It tasted something like puke. But I swallowed hard and then thought about a mockingbird immediately. I felt the painful sensation of my bones shifting. I screamed in pain and I heard Lily say something. But the pain was too intense to understand it. I felt my muscles shrinking and moving. I felt my skull contracting to a small size. And then, as suddenly as it started, it stopped. I opened my mouth to say something but the only thing that came out was a coo like a bird. I held out what I thought was my arms and looked at them. They were wings.

"Can you understand me Sky?" Lily asked me.

I looked up to see that she was towering over me. I nodded my head in recognition.

"Good, at least you aren't doing something stupid like chasing your tail feathers or something." Lily said.

She cleared her throat and looked to her left and I saw a gigantic black dog chasing its tail.

"Sirius, would you stop that?" Remus asked.

Sirius stopped and sat down like a dog. I got a good look at him then. He was about the size of a Great Dane, but looked like a combination of a black lab and a panther. I spread my wings out again and then flapped them. I started to fly. I did a few laps around the ceiling to get used to turning and flying straight and the like. I looked down and saw a beautiful chocolate brown stag standing around. It was stomping its hooves agitated and/or confused. I assumed that James was trying to get used to the feeling of walking on four legs. I let out a low note of laughter. I heard a squeak from below me. Sirius was growling at what looked like a rat. I let out a higher note to show that I was laughing harder. Mentally I was rolling on the mental floor laughing. I quickly did a dive and then thought of my human self. I had the feeling of immense burning go through my body, but then it was done quicker and it was less painful this time. I was able to land on the floor rather smoothly. I walked over to Sirius and Peter. I picked up the rat form of Peter and made sure Sirius wouldn't hurt him.

"Be nice, Sirius. It's Peter not some little rat off the street." I scolded.

Sirius transformed back into his human form and I set Peter down.

"You know, just because I transform into a dog, doesn't mean that you can scold me like one." Sirius said with a smirk on his face.

I walked over to him, swaying my hips a little.

"Really now?" I asked. I put my hands around his neck kind of held myself there.

"Yes really." Sirius said. He put his hands around my waist.

"Well, that's just too bad." I said, in a smooth voice, flashing a smirk of my own.

"I guess it is." Sirius said.

He leaned in to kiss me but then I transformed right in his arms. I flew up high so he couldn't reach me. I heard Lily and Remus burst out in laughter. I flew around triumphantly. I was singing to show my victory.

"Fine, bird brain. Come down here and we'll see who's teasing who." Sirius called to me.

I transform again in mid-air and the only thing that I felt was the sensation that my knuckles were cracking.

"Fine, be that way dog breath." I said sticking my tongue out at him.

Before I could do anything, Sirius had pressed his lips around mine and was playing with my tongue in a kiss. I just couldn't help but melt. I kissed him back with a fraction of the passion that he was using. He somehow sensed that I didn't want to kiss in front of our friends, so he broke away quickly.

"You really should learn to keep that tongue in your mouth. Or you never know what might happen." Sirius said with a smirk.

"Okay love bird and dog. We need to discuss some things." James said. He had transformed out of his stag form and had his hands on his hips.

"Like what, Mr. Potter?" I asked in that motherly type voice I was so good at.

"First off, what are we going to do about Hogsmeade?" Sirius asked.

"We could go Friday."

"The trip is in a week." James and Lily said at the same time.

"Let me rephrase that. JAMES what are we going to do about Hogsmeade?" Sirius asked.

"We could go on Friday. Probably in the morning considering that we have Quidditch try-outs after dinner." James said, shrugging his shoulders and motioning to me.

"Sounds good to me." Remus said and Peter agreed.

"What are you people planning to do? The Hogsmeade trip isn't until next week. How are you going to get there before then?" Lily asked, suspiciously.

"Are you still going to stick to your original oath to NOT snitch on us for being up to no good?" I asked.

"Well, yes I do." Lily said uncertainly. She obviously was regretting taking that oath now.

"I don't believe her. She could be trying to pull a fast one on us." Peter said. Remus nodded his head.

"Prove it Tiger." I said with a smirk.

Lily stood looking at her feet for a little while. Then she suddenly looked up and then at James.

"What are you-"

James couldn't finish his sentence. This was because Lily caught him in a lip lock that could have been, well, Sirius's and mine. She was getting very into it I had to admit. It was almost like she was enjoying it. But before James could come out of shock and kiss her back, she broke away.

"Happy now?" Lily panted.

"I'm not so sure." James said with a sly grin on his face.

"Put a sock in it Prongs." Remus said, smacking James on the shoulder.

"So what are you up to?" Lily asked.

She had an eager look on her face and looked really excited for a little mischief. I think that was my doing. I am such a bad influence.

"We want to go to Hogsmeade to get the best outfits we can before the rest of the girls." I said.

"Well, how do we get there?" Lily asked.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Sirius said.

I had taken the map out of my backpack, via wordless and wandless magic and held it behind my back. Sirius had said the password, seeing what I was doing. Suddenly a table appeared and I spread the map out on the table.

"Where did you find this?" Lily asked, amazing at our map.

"You know those days-"

"And nights-"

"That we disappeared for hours at a time?" Remus, James, and Peter –in that order—said, interrupting each other.

"Well, yes." Lily said.

"AND you know those times where we would be sitting, huddled around a table in the corner together arguing?" Sirius asked.

"And you remember the time that James turned a kid's face funny colors for calling you a Mudblood?" I asked.

"Yes I remember those. But how is that relevant?" Lily asked.

"We were making this." Sirius, James, Peter, Remus and myself all said in unison.

"You were making a map at the time of James being a prat and turning a kid's face blue?" Lily asked.

"Well, no but I came up with idea then." I said with a smile on my face.

"So explain to me WHY we need this thing?" Lily asked, getting back to the original subject.

"It has every secret passage way and secret room in this castle on it-"

"along with a handy little spell that shows where people are." James said, interrupting me.

"Really?" Lily asked, looking closer at the map.

"But my point is, we take any one of the 7 passages-"

"Well, 6 because one of them leads to Remus's shack" Sirius said, also interrupting me.

"BUT we take this passage to get to Honeydukes-"

"or we take this passage to the outskirts of town."

"GUYS!" I said.

Remus had interrupted me this time and it was really starting to bother me.

"But I think our safest bet would be this one that Remus pointed out. Less chance of getting caught and the mirror is in a rather unused section of the castle." I said, finally not getting interrupted.

"This is remarkable. And you did this in how long?" Lily asked. She was looking around the map with careful eyes.

"Oh don't bother looking for us on here. Since we're in the ROR we aren't on the map." James said.

"We decided to keep this room our secret." I said with a wink.

"So you want to go when?" Lily asked.

"Friday would be best. Right after lunch until right before dinner I think would be best. People wouldn't be too surprised to see us disappear. Probably think we're up to no good." Sirius said with a chuckle.

"So are you in or out?" I asked Lily.

"You bet your ass that I'm in." Lily said with a devilish smile.

I have really got to stop corrupting that girl.

So we went to Hogsmeade and got the most beautiful dress on the face of the Earth. I loved mine because it fit me really well and looked great on me. Lily's was amazing and I would have gotten it if I hadn't have found my dress. Try-outs were the bomb. I made Seeker and I had practice almost every night after dinner. I had practice on Sunday too, which limited the time I got to spend with Sirius. I had to constantly remind him that we were just testing things out and Cloud had to approve first in front of me before it was official. But the time flew by rather quickly. I still went to Hogsmeade and spent a lot of the day with Sirius. We stayed in the 3 Broomsticks most of the time, but I ditched him to go Christmas shopping. I got a really nice set of broomstick supplies for James, who made Chaser, a book for Remus called "Guide to Making Your Own Potions: How NOT to Have it all Blow up in your face." He was trying to make a potion to cure or help his issue. I got Peter this amazing set of wizard's chess pieces and then I bought Sirius a book called "Magical Pranks for the Ultimate Prankster." I knew that he would love it and we would definitely have to use a lot of these tricks before we let Hogwarts. But time flew by and before I knew it, it was Christmas Eve. More importantly than the fact that it was the day before Christmas, it was my birthday and a Saturday. I had been working with the Quidditch team and Cloud on preparing an act for the club part of the ball. That Saturday was the final chance that we had to work on it.


	11. Birthday

I woke up that morning to Lily pouncing on me. Or at least I thought so. But when I woke up, I smelt Phoenix Axe. Sirius had pounced on me? I opened my eyes to those awesome steely gray ones staring back at me. I screamed and pushed him off me.

"Oh that's some way to treat your almost boyfriend." Sirius said sarcastically.

"You just scared me is all." I said.

This was nothing new. Sirius came up all the time. Somehow, he could fool the stairs by coming up them in his dog form.

"Fine just ignore the rest of us standing here." James said, fake offended.

I sat up and saw that Remus, Peter, and James had joined to party too. I conjured some nice chairs for them and they sat down. I looked at the foot of my bed and saw that I got a nice pile of presents this year. Cloud called this day "day one of Sky's birthday." This is because I was born at midnight between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I spent day one with my family usually and I spent day 2 with my friends. I got all the presents from my family on day one and all my presents from my friends on day two. Life was sweet.

"You gonna open your presents?" James asked.

He pulled his chair closer to the pile to get a better look. Remus and Peter also came closer to my stack of presents. Sirius sat against my headboard with one leg extended straight and one bent. He had on arm resting on his bent leg. He was relaxed and it made me smile to see him this way. It was a small pile because not that many people were there to send me presents. I picked up the first gift. It was sort of clumsily wrapped in a bright purple paper.

"That one is from me." Peter said happily.

I smiled at him and unwrapped it hurriedly. It was a medium sized square-ish box that had "FRAGILE" stamped on several sides. I picked up the dagger shaped letter opener from my bedside table and slit the tape holding the box closed. I pulled out the Styrofoam encased object out of the box and cut the packaging away from it. It revealed a wonderful alarm clock. It was a shiny black metal with a white opal face. The hands were encrusted with emerald and sapphires and all of the numbers were the same black as the outside.

"It's beautiful, Pete." I said softly.

"I know how hard it is to get you out of bed sometimes. I thought that this would help." Peter said, a little embarrassed.

"It's not breakable, is it?" James laughed a little, as he handled the clock after I passed it to him.

"Of course not. I know her habit of breaking her alarm clocks." Peter laughed, and we all joined him.

The clock was passed around and I picked up another gift. It was a wrapped a little more neatly than Peter's and there was a card on it, indicating that it was Remus's gift. I smiled at him as I opened his gift and he returned it. I pulled off the shiny green paper and revealed a book. It was the first volume of series called "Practical Advanced Magic: A Guide to Charms and Spells". I quickly flipped open to the Table of Contents and I saw a wonderful array of fantastic spells that I would have to try and learn when I wasn't trying to learn school work.

"I thought you'd like to work with your brother and learn some of those over the summer." Remus said with a smile.

I laughed and nodded. I set the book down next to me and pulled another gift off of the pile. It was sort of small, about the size of the average billfold wallet and it wrapped nicely in silver paper with a shiny black bow. The card indicated that it was from James. I opened it hurriedly and it was a wonderful little locket. I opened it and saw that, despite the fact that the locket was barely larger than a Knut, there was room for six pictures inside of it, two on each of the doors and then there were two little swinging pages with room for four more pictures. James had already taken the liberty of filling all of the little slots with pictures. There was one of Cloud and I; a picture of Lily and I; a picture of James and Sirius; a picture of Remus and Peter; a picture of all four of them; and a picture of Lily, myself, James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter. All of the people in the photos were smiling and waving at me. I closed the locket and I saw that the front had an embossed bird sitting on a branch on the front. The bird would periodically flap its wings and do a lap around the front of the locket, but then come back to rest on its perch.

"This is wonderful Prongs." I said with a huge smile.

"I'd thought you'd like it." James said with a sort of cocky grin.

He ruffled his hair in that way to make it look like he just got off his broom. I saw Lily roll her eyes. She always hated the way he did that. I picked up the last two and looked at who they were from. One was from Lily and the other was from Cloud. I looked behind me and saw Sirius smirking at me. He had been silent this entire time, which was strange for him. He tossed his hair out of his face with that casual elegance that only he seemed to possess.

"And where is your gift?" I asked a little pointedly.

"You'll get it later." Sirius said in a strange tone. It had the slight edge of a chuckle, but it wasn't meant to be funny.

I rolled my eyes and turned back to last two gifts. I decided to open Lily's first. It was the neatest out of all of them; no doubt she wrapped it with magic. I almost felt bad ripping off the wonderful paper. It was red and orange, and there were moving pictures of phoenixes flying across the large-ish box. But I did unwrap the present carefully, trying not to rip the paper. I opened the box and found a bunch of news print. I quickly tossed the insane amount of paper out of box and onto the floor without regard for where it fell. At the bottom of the box, there was a little box. I rolled my eyes at her overkill, but picked it up. Inside, there was a pair of earrings that exactly matched the locket that James had given me. They were dangle earrings and were the same shape as the bird on the front of the locket.

"I didn't know that you two could work together." I said with a smile, looking at James and Lily.

James turned a bright red and ruffled his hair again, but Lily just rolled her eyes.

"He provided the funds and I picked them out. He put his name on the locket, and found all of the pictures. That was about as much cooperation as we're ever going to have." Lily said, her tone short.

"Of course. And you agreeing to go to the dance with him was just a fluke." I said sarcastically.

I was talking about the moment where Lily had finally given into James. He had been asking her about four times a day, sometimes embarrassing her in the process. The last time, he had stood on the table at lunch and, in front of the entire school, asked her to the dance at the top of his voice. He refused to let her leave the room until she agreed to go to the ball with him. And I don't mean he wouldn't let her leave, figuratively. He literally glued her to her seat and took away her wand, and he didn't release her until she agreed.

"Yes it was." Lily grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest.

"But you still agreed." James said happily.

"Watch yourself, Potter. I only have to go with you for a couple hours." Lily said in the same tone.

I laughed and picked up the last gift. "To Sky From Cloud. Happy 16th Birthday" I read off the card on top of it. I was confused. Cloud usually went to extremes with his birthday gifts for me. I opened it carefully just in case the blank paper was some kind of misleading thing. But it wasn't I opened the paper to find what looked like a shoebox sized box. It was black and unmarked. I opened the lid carefully and found that there was a bunch of pictures, a little velvet box, and a letter folded carefully and sealed shut with wax. I sat staring at the contents of the box, unable to say anything. Everyone sat and looked at me, just as silent. Finally Lily broke the increasingly awkward silence.

"I think that it is almost time for breakfast. You guys woke us up early, so let's go down and get something to eat. You coming, Songbird?" Lily asked.

I shook my head no, still looking at the contents of the box.

"I'm really not that hungry either." Sirius said in a sort of breathless tone.

"No you go Sirius. I have to go talk to my brother about these." I said.

I got up and swiftly left the room. I walked down the girls' stairs only to climb the boys' stairs at an alarming pace, all while holding this black box. When I got to Cloud's dorm room, I knocked. His voice beckoned me to enter. I found him sitting on his bed reading a book.

"You opened it then?" he asked.

I nodded and then walked over to his bed. I sat down cross-legged opposite him. He magically closed and sealed his curtains. He started by explaining all the pictures. Each one had a story behind it that Cloud was more than happy to tell. In almost every picture, there seemed to be either a man or a woman. But sometimes they were in both. There was a picture of just the two of them. They were standing under a tree, and he had his arm around her. He was tall, with soft blond hair and beautiful green eyes. The woman by his side was tiny, and I recognized my own frame in her. She had a lovely face, but her most striking feature was her eyes. They were my eyes and Cloud's eyes. These two people were my mother and father. Cloud was going to tell me all that he remembered about them, but I stopped him there.

"Thank you Cloud. It was really nice of you to tell me all of this." I said with a smile.

"You needed to know. And I put this in here." Cloud said.

He pulled the little velvet box out of the shoebox and opened it. It was a ring. But not just any ring. It was the Cloudy Wolf. Cloud had gotten his from Mom and Dad when he had entered Hogwarts, but I never was able to get mine from them because they had died before I could get it. But now Cloud was giving it to me. Cloud put the ring on the two ribbons that I had around my neck. But he stopped before he put them on.

"You deserve something better." Cloud said under his breath.

He summoned a thin chain for the ring to go on. He untied the ribbons and then took the jewel off. He put the jewel and the ring on the silver chain but tied the ribbons around my neck. They looped around once and then came back to be tied in a bow in the front. Cloud but the chain on me and then looked at me.

"Just like Mom." Cloud said. He sighed a happy sigh and then opened the curtains.

"Go hang out with your friends until lunch. After lunch I want you in the Great Hall though." Cloud said.

I picked up the box and then nodded. I walked out of the room with one last thanks to Cloud. I ran back down the boys' stairs and then all the way up the girls' stairs. I changed into some pajama pants and a tee shirt. It was just a plain white tee shirt. I slipped on some ballet flats and a jean jacket. I walked down stair only to meet Lily halfway.

"Sirius is down in the common room. He sent me up here looking for you." She said. I nodded and she smiled.

"Happy Birthday Sky." She said before we both went our separate ways on the stairs.


	12. Official

I found Sirius sitting on one of the couches looking at the fire. I cleared my throat and he jumped up and turned to face me.

"You wanted me?" I said smoothly.

"Yes I did." Sirius said.

I walked up to him and put my hands around his neck.

"What did you need me for?" I asked in the cutest voice I could muster.

"I wanted to go to our spot and have brunch but if you don't want to that's fine." Sirius said. I kissed him quickly on the lips.

"That sounds wonderful." I said with a smile.

I took his hand and then let him lead me out the castle and down to our spot. But we took the long way so it took us about an hour of roaming the castle together to get down there. Sirius shocked the crap out of me. Our spot was completely clear of snow and then was a glowing fire to keep us warm. Right beside our rock there was a blanket spread out on the ground with all sorts of little goodies on it. There were finger sandwiches, grapes, strawberries, and all sorts of nice things to eat. Sirius and I sat down on the blanket and spent a long time talking and eat together. He even took the time to lay me down and feed me grapes right off the vine. After we were done eating, we just sat in each other's arms looking at the fire in silence.

"You know that it is lunch time right?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah and I have to be back in about 10 minutes." I said.

"Why?" Sirius asked.

"It's a surprise you big dummy. You have to wait and see." I said laughing.

I tapped his nose like a dog and he growled at me. I laughed out loud at this. He then took a point to softly bite my neck.

"No you can't do that." I said, pushing his head away from my neck.

"And why not?" Sirius asked offended.

"I have a strapless low cut dress for tonight. I won't be able to hide anything you do." I said.

I kissed him softly on the lips to say that I wasn't mad at him but I just wanted to make sure that I didn't have any foreign marks on me when I went to see Cloud and the other guys. Sirius kissed me back softly but with a lot of love behind it. I tried to pull away, but Sirius put a hand behind my head to stop me. He pulled away but still held my head in place.

"I was going to wait until tomorrow, but I really want to give this to you today." Sirius said.

He dug in his cloak pocket and pulled out a little red velvet box.

"Sky, we've been testing the waters for nearly two weeks now. I want to take our relationship a step further." He said seriously.

He opened the little red box. It was the most beautiful ring I ever saw. The band was silver, and there was a rose made out of little wafer-thin pieces of the same metal. In the center of the rose, there was a beautiful ruby. I felt my eyes watering ever so slightly at the sight of it.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" Sirius asked.

My mind was in turmoil. I wanted to say that I would right on the spot but I had promised Cloud he could interview my first boyfriend before the relationship was official.

"Yes I will. But on one condition." I said.

Sirius smiled the biggest I had ever seen as he asked what he had to do.

"You have to talk to Cloud. I promised him that he could interview my first boyfriend, and even though you both know each other so well already, a promise is a promise." I said with a smile of my own.

Sirius nodded eagerly and then slid the ring on my right ring finger gently. It looked like it belong there, and it fit perfectly. I hugged Sirius again and then gave him a quick kiss.

"But right now, I've got to see a man about a toaster. The food was great and this was really nice spending time with you." I said.

I got up but so did Sirius. He took the cloak off his shoulders and put it on me. It was thick and really warm from his body heat.

"Don't pretend that you weren't shivering the entire time we ate. You are freezing." Sirius said.

He slid his leather-gloved hand through my bare one and we walked back to the castle. I felt so much better once I was inside the warm castle. I kissed Sirius one last time before I went into the Great Hall. It looked really pretty. The trees were up and decorated. Remus told me about the pain of having to decorate them. The fairies wouldn't stay still. I looked around at all the decorations going up. I found that Cloud and the others were warming up on the stage that had been set up for first the orchestra and then us. I walked over to them and saw that there were no amps going or anything.

"We are just going to do a music circle practice?" I asked as I sat down on a stool that I would use during the performance.

"Well, for now we just want to go over the list of songs for the show. We want to only do an hour so let's be choosy with the final cut." Zac said. Cloud and the rest pulled up stools while went over the songs. We eventually decided on this:

The Only difference

Honestly

Bring Me to Life

Lacrymosa

Time to Dance

The Kill

Broken

Going under

The Only One

Lithium

Build God and Then We'll Talk

Sweet Sacrifice

My Immortal

Lies

Imaginary

Set the Fire to the 3rd Bar

Taking Over Me

Welcome to the Black Parade

Blackbird

(NOTE: I take no credit for ANY of these songs. If you want an artist for any of them, give me a message). We ended up running through the act about three times in the circle and once with the lights and everything, making sure that the Great Hall was sound proofed. I went and made sure that my costumes were safe in its place in the trophy room, which was being used as our dressing room. I left after everything was all set up and hidden from the rest of the school. The tables appeared for dinner and I left the Great Hall with Cloud. I only had three hours until the ball, but I had to make sure that my party clothes were in the room. I brought down the costume bag and then went back up into the common room. It was empty surprisingly, and Cloud and I sat opposite each other on the couches.

"Has Sirius asked you out officially yet?" Cloud asked randomly.

"Yes, but I told him that you had to interview him before I said yes." I said with a little smile.

"You want to do it now?" Cloud asked, looking at me seriously.

"Why not? I think he might be up in his dorm. Let me find him." I said.

I pulled the 2-way mirror from my pocket and said Sirius's name.

"You rang?" he answered.

I could he was eating because his mouth looked full.

"Cloud is ready. You want to talk with him?" I asked.

Sirius swallowed hard and almost choked.

"Slow down Padfoot. Chew and swallow." I said calmly.

He did so to stop choking. "Where are you? I'll be right there." Sirius said quickly.

"Common room, dear." I said. I put the mirror back in my pocket after his face disappeared from it.

"That is a handy little thing." Cloud said, nodding at the mirror.

"James got 3 of them. One for me, one for him, and one for Sirius. Easier to talk to each other when we're in separate detentions." I said with a smirk.

Cloud laughed and we were silent for a couple minutes. Then suddenly the portrait swung open and Sirius came bolting in.

"Breathe Padfoot. Breathing is good." I said getting up to make sure he caught his breath.

He did so in a few seconds and I saw him swallow. I figured that he hadn't been nervous up to this point, but now that the moment was upon him, he was getting anxious.

"Sit down Sirius. His bark is much worse than his bite." I said, lightly.

"Speak for yourself." Cloud said.

I glared at him and sat Sirius down on the empty couch that I just got up from. And so started the interrogation. Cloud quizzed Sirius on everything from my favorite color, which was purple, to if he knew how my parents died. He answered everything perfectly. I was really scared for Sirius because I didn't know if he knew everything that they asked.

"And my last question for you, Sirius Draco Black, will you promise to be faithful, honest, and true to Sky?"

"I will. I would never do anything to her. She will always be my best friend, no matter where our love life takes us. Friends don't do that kind of stuff to each other and Marauders stick together." Sirius said.

He looked at me this time, instead of Cloud. I smiled with pride knowing that he was being honest. Cloud was silent for several tense minutes. I bit my lip, unable to read what Cloud's reaction was.

"I will allow you to date my sister, but know that I will be watching you very carefully." Cloud finally said.

I saw Sirius's face brighten by about 10 shades. He turned to me and gave me the biggest hug ever. I laughed and hugged him. It was so nice to know that he was this happy with just a little acceptance from my family. Sirius suddenly took my upper arms and kissed me passionately on the lips. There wasn't any tongue or anything, but it was full of a lot of love. I laughed and then suddenly Lily ran through the portrait hole.

"Less than an hour to get ready! Come on!" Lily said.

She grabbed my arm and attempted to drag me up the stairs with bodily force.

"Breathe Lily. Hold on a second." I said loudly over her mad ramblings.

I detached her hands from my arm and walked back over to Sirius.

I kissed him sweetly on the lips and then whispered, "I love you."

He looked mildly shocked as Lily and I ran up the stairs.


	13. The Ball Part 1

Lily and I ran up the stairs to our dorm, and it was a mad dash to get ready. We were like a well oiled machine, and we were really lucky that we had the room to ourselves. Getting ready in such short time with any number of additional girls would have been impossible. But somehow, fifty-five minutes later, we were ready to go. We stopped a little bit from entering the common room so we could surprise the boys. I was going to introduce Lily from the stairs and she was going to introduce me from the common room. After making sure that the boys were there, Lily set her shoulders. The little ringlets around her face bounced a little while the rest of the hair in her updo remained firmly in place. I nodded to her and she prepared to walk down the stairs.

"Mr. James Potter, I proudly present your date to the ball, Miss. Lily Evans." I said grandly.

She descended the rest of the stairs in a wonderful dress. It was gold and the hem was jagged like a gypsy skirt. It was made of several layers; the longest layer went down to her ankles and the shortest layer stayed around her hips. The torso of the dress was a very shiny gold and it looked like there was a ribbon wrapped around her middle and there was a bow on her left hip. The top was a halter top and it had a relatively deep cut. It wasn't slutty at all, and it made her look even more beautiful that she already was. I heard James audibly gasp at her beauty. I loved that dress on her. It looked perfect. I was so glad that we got to the dresses first. James stumbled over his words for a few seconds but Lily silenced him.

"And, Mr. Sirius Black, this is your lovely date to the ball, Miss. Sky Strife." Lily said.

I walked down the rest of the stairs and saw that all of the guys, including my brother had a date to the ball and were in dress robes. I smiled shyly as I walked over to Sirius. He looked stunning in black dress robes, I had to admit. My dress was emerald green and fitted until around the hips. It was velvet with a strapless sweetheart neckline. There were little pink flowers embroidered on the top. The bottom of the dress was my favorite part. The front hem of the dress only came down to around my knees but the back hem dragged the ground ever so slightly. The fabric had plenty of folds and it moved elegantly when I walked. My hair was completely down and in soft curls, making my hair look slightly windblown. Sirius's face said everything that needed to be said. His jaw was dropped and his eyes were about the size of dinner plate. He took my hand and tried to say something.

"I know I'm fabulous, Sirius. You don't have to say anything." I said with a smirk on my face.

He squeezed my hand gently and twirled me gently to see the full effect of my gown.

"Stunning, my dear. Just stunning." Sirius said after a few seconds.

"We're going to be late." I said with a little smile.

Sirius held his arm out in the gentlemanly fashion, mirroring my smile exactly.

"Why thank you. I would have just died in these heels." I said smoothly.

He laughed and we went to the ball. It went rather smoothly to be honest. I didn't fall or spill punch or anything on my dress. It was shocking. But then that time rolled around for the kiddies to leave and for us older people.

I slipped away from Sirius, feeling a little guilty about doing so. I went our of the side door to find the rest of the guys getting ready. Cloud had changed into a pair of black pants, a black shirt and a black zip up vest. I nodded in approval and then looked around. The rest of the guys were dressed in all black as well. They looked really uniform. But be it their own heads. I had my own costumes. I watched as they walked out of them room when their cue came and I made sure that the door was locked. I quickly changed into my first outfit as I heard Tony start singing the song, "The Only Difference Between Martyrdom and Suicide is Press Coverage" I heard the crowd go wild. I was finally changed into my first costume. I would have to do four costume changes, most of them being in less than one song. My first outfit consisted of a pair of black pants and a black shirt that only had one sleeve, which was long. There were little cascades of fabric along the sleeve, and it looked awesome. I loved it because it was easy to move in. I heard them start the next song while I warmed up my voice and my dance moves. Mark sang the next song and it was called "Honestly". I unlocked the door, hoping that my black outfit would cover my appearance. I noticed that everything was like it was supposed to be. All the lights were dimmed and everything was just like it was in practice. Suddenly, the entire mood changed to fit the song. I started to sing with my voice being amplified through a simple spell. The song was called "Bring me to Life" and I sung the duet with Zac. As I finished the song, I was smiling from ear to ear. The crowd was going nuts. I loved the stage. Everyone was so happy. I heard the next song's intro. I loved this song so much because I wrote it and it sounded beautiful. It was called "Lacrymosa". The crowd went wild and I walked off the stage discretely. I had to do a quick change and I had to make sure it was right. I heard the next song start, which was called "Time to dance" again being sung by Tony. Again, the crowd went wild. I knew Cloud was enjoying every minute of this. He loved playing guitar and he knew that he moment to shine was coming up. I had just finished changing when John started singing "The Kill." I was wearing a sleeveless jumpsuit. The majority of it was black, but the collar and the panels down the sides were a metallic red.

I walked back out of the room and onto the stage. Cloud was just finishing saying something when I sat down on a stool that was there. Cloud has his acoustic out and was playing the introduction to the song we wrote together. The song was called "Broken". The crowd erupted when we were done.

"How are you all feeling tonight?" I asked the crowd. They all cheered and I laughed.

"That's good. I hope you guys enjoy the show." I said. I started the next song right away. It was called "Going Under". I was really getting into the performing zone. I was interacting with the crowd and throwing all of my heart and soul into this show. And the crowd was great. They were lapping it up like water for a man lost in the desert. The guys went right into "The only One." I loved that song. But I stopped to give guys some credit.

"Okay, I would like to take moment introduce the wonderful men behind me. Okay, on our drums here and singing for bit was our lovely Gryffindor Keeper, Zac." The crowd cheered as he gave a short wave.

"On the base and on the drums for Zac every blue moon is one of our Gryffindor Beaters, John." The crowd cheered again.

"On the rhythm guitar and slight backup vocals is the other beater Tony. He also sings a couple of the songs you've heard." They went nuts some more.

"On the keyboard and also the master of funky beats and anything else that isn't guitars or drums except piano is our lovely chaser Mark." The crowd cheered really loud again and almost blew my eardrums out.

"And last but not least is my big brother, Cloud. He plays all those awesome solos you keep hearing." I gave Cloud a side hug as he gave a meek salute to the crowd that went wild with girly screams. I laughed at his popularity.

"And now back to the music. I am going to slow it down for a bit with one of my favorite songs, Lithium." The song ended all too soon for me. I was really feeling the emotion of the song as I sang it. I loved that song, again because I wrote it, but also because it was a powerful song. I walked off the stage again with a wave to change. Mark started to sing again to a song called "Build God Then We'll Talk." I had just finished changing when the song ended. I loved that song. It was depressing but still really cool. I was wearing another jumpsuit, also black. It was a halter top and had a silver starburst on the front. Still really pretty, but I could also move in it. I walked back onto the stage as the intro to "Sweet Sacrifice" played. I was singing softly the first little bit. I finished with a happy look on my face. I loved that song too. I loved all the songs in the lineup. Then suddenly a piano appeared in the middle of the stage. I went and sat down at it.

"Like I said, I provide all of the piano for these songs, whether it be previously recorded or live. This one is live." I said.

I started to play the song "My Immortal" on the piano. The audience adored it. I stood up and was about to take a bow but thought about a second and then stopped. My shirt was too low cut for that. I just blew kisses and waved. The next song started right away. It was called "Lies" and it featured Cloud again. The song finished and the crowd soaked up all the energy the Cloud and I were putting out in this performance. I pulled my acoustic guitar and sat down on stool again.

"This is a song that I would like to take a moment and say that I wrote exclusively. Cloud did not help me with this one, even though he likes to take credit for it. This one's called Imaginary." I said with a laugh.

I played all of the acoustic parts of this song on my guitar. I personally loved this song because I could just sing it to escape. I sang with all my heart in these songs, and the crowd responded. I could hear a few people even starting to sing these songs. I smiled and set my guitar down.

"The next song is just a song for all those people who have been in love but then something or someone caused you to part. I see you Sirius, sitting there WAAAAY in the back staring at me like you don't know what to think." I said. I blew a kiss to him and then the next song started. The crowd was silent for a second or two when the last note faded away. But then they erupted in cheer.

"Sky!" I heard something yell. I looked around and then down at the stage line.

"Songbird!" I heard. I looked and I saw Sirius I went over and knelt down. I briefly took the spell off and whispered for him something. I put the spell back on my voice and then stood up.

"This next song is dedicated to my new boyfriend, Sirius Black." I blew him another kiss and then I started the next song, "Taking over me."

I looked back at Sirius and saw that he was shocked that I would sing a song like that for him. I went over knelt down in front of him. I didn't care that the entire room was watching. I kissed him on the lips. He was shocked at my bold move, but kissed me back. I had to break the kiss to go change. I kissed his cheek and left the stage. The boys started the next song, which was sung by Cloud called "Welcome to the Black Parade." I just finished changing while the drum roll was playing. I changed into a simple black helter dress that had ruching around the middle and cascades of fabric in the full length skirt. When the boys were saying their thank you, I walked onto the dark little walkway that was set up right for this song. I heard the cue and then started to sing "Blackbird". I was standing in front of a microphone and there was a single spotlight on me. It felt like a very intimate moment, even though I was singing to a little under half of the school. The crowd adored it and there was a standing ovation for our performance. I called the guys on stage and we all took a bow together.

"Now John will be the DJ for the rest of the night. Enjoy this wonderful party that our staff has so wonderfully provided for us." I said with a final wave.

The guys and I walked back off the stage and into the trophy room. When I go in there I took off the spell and plopped down in a chair. But I was suddenly attacked by a group hug.

"Guys!" I said.

They all were laughing as we changed. I had a body suit on to hide anything I didn't want to be shown the public, so it was all good. I put on a black plaid miniskirk, a red tube top that showed a little of my flat stomach, and a black jean jacket over it. I wore a black newsie cap and knee high suede boots. I went out to meet Sirius and the rest. I walked out of the trophy room door and went around to the front entrance to the Great Hall. I had my arms linked with Cloud and Zac. I loved them both so much. But then as soon as we walked into the Great Hall, it erupted with sound again. John was DJing and everyone was dancing. I was going to have a good time. I parted from my brother and the rest of the guys to go look for my friends. I found them rather quickly. They were all sitting at a table together laughing and drinking butterbeer. I quickly ran over to them and they were really happy to see me. I had seen Sirius before, but I really didn't get a good look at him. He was dressed in a white dress shirt that was slightly unbuttoned. He wore plain black jeans and white sneakers. He also was wearing a black fedora angled stylishly. Remus was wearing a red turtleneck with a brown leather jacket over it. He also wore a fedora, but his was white with a gold band and he wore it straight. Peter looked a little cheesy, dressed in a blue dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a green shirt under it. His pants were black and he too wore a fedora that was the same color as his shirt. James looked classy like Remus and Sirius, wearing white pants, a white shirt, and a black leather jacket. He was wearing a white fedora with a black band, matching the other three.

"I'm guessing that hats was the theme here." I said.

I sat down in Sirius's lap and took the butterbeer that James handed me.

"You bet it is." Remus said.

"Glad I wore one then." I said.

They all laughed and the Lily came up to us.

"James, dance with me." She pleaded.

I nodded for him to go and he did so reluctantly. Remus's and Peter's dates both came up to them and dragged them on the dance floor as well.

"Come on Sirius, let's go dance." I said.

"Alright. I'll go." Sirius said.

I got up and took him by the hand and we started to dance to a fast paced song together. Things were really great. Nothing could have spoiled this moment. Man was I wrong.


	14. The Ball Part 2

"Why, princess, I didn't know you had such a great voice." A smooth voice said.

I turned and see Regulas and the rest of his gang standing there. I froze in fear.

"What do you want Black?" James spat at him.

"I just came to say a word or two to my brother and his new fuck-buddy, I mean girlfriend." Regulas said with a shrug.

I had to grab Sirius to make sure that he didn't beat the living snot out of Regulas.

"It's not worth it love. Leave him." I said softly.

Sirius kept glaring at Regulas even though he backed off.

"Leave us alone Regulas. We didn't do anything to you." Lily said.

"Shows how much you know, Mudblood."

Now it was my turn to be angry.

"Bastard. Take that back!" I yelled.

Most of the people were now looking at us.

"Why should I? I'm only stating the truth." Regulas said with an evil smirk.

"I SAID TAKE IT BACK!" I yelled louder.

Sirius had to hold me back this time from jumping the little slime ball. James was being held back by a combination of Remus and Peter.

"Get walking Black before I kick the crap out of you." I yelled, still trying to wriggle free of Sirius.

"This is quite comical. I wonder if your skirt will fly up in your attempt to attack me." Regulas said, bending slightly to try and look up my skirt.

I did something that I would never have done otherwise. I used wandless and wordless magic to perform the Torture Curse. Regulas screamed and dropped to his knees.

"What did you just do Songbird?" Sirius asked.

"Giving that little vermin what he deserves." I said in a growl.

I made the curse more intense.

"Stop it, Sky. You'll really hurt him." Lily said.

"I don't care! He's been taunting me too long. He called you that horrible name and he's tortured Sirius at home. He deserves this and you know it." I said louder.

I made the curse more intense as I watched him squirm.

"STOP IT SKY!" I heard Sirius yell.

I stopped and so did the curse. I saw that Regulas was panting and barely moving. What had I done? I looked at Regulas with wide eyes as his friends gather around him.

"You'll pay for this Strife. You will pay dearly for this. Whether it take one year, ten years, or 50 years, you will pay for this." Snape spat at me.

I staggered a few steps backwards and looked around. There were people looking from me to Regulas and then back with shocked faces. I bet they were all wondering the same thing: what did she do? I staggered a few steps more and then turned and ran all the way out of the Great Hall and out to my spot. I didn't care who followed me, I just wanted out. I ran out and found myself in the clearing where I had been practicing when I got a chance to when I didn't spar with Cloud. I found that my new sword was out here for some reason. I picked it up and wordlessly created the faceless opponent. I made it with a little more than Cloud's level to try and get better. I started to fight it and didn't even notice that I was crying. I just wanted to get all of this frustration out. I was losing to this faceless thing and I somehow didn't care. I got thrown into a tree and onto the ground. I made the thing disappear and I cried on the ground.

"Sky?" I heard someone yelling. I looked up and saw Peter.

"Hey." He said. His voice was light and soft.

"I think you did brilliantly. That little pain deserved what he got." Peter said.

He rubbed my back to try and comfort me. He knew better than to hug me. Don't get me wrong, I like the guy, but not enough to hug him.

"I just tortured someone to the point that they couldn't move. How is that "getting what they deserved"?" I asked. I was still sobbing on the cold forest floor.

"Well, I don't know. You got me stumped there." Peter said.

"THERE YOU GUYS ARE!" I heard someone yell.

It was James. He came running up to the two of us. I sat up, still crying.

"Sky, stop that crying right now. You did a great job. Can you teach me how to do that?" James said, making a sad attempt at a joke.

"I never want to do that again. I wasn't supposed to use that for any reason than as a last resort if I lost my wand in a duel." I said sadly. I shook my head and my long red hair fell out of the hat I was wearing and into my face.

"Well, come on. Let's go back into the castle. You are shaking worse than a scared dog." James said.

"Where are Sirius and Remus?" I asked, taking a shaky breath to try and calm down. I sniffed and whipped my nose.

"Remus is making sure Sirius doesn't kill his little brother. We both volunteered to come get you." Peter said.

"That's sweet of you both." I said with a smile. I loved my friends.

"Well, come on. You are going to catch the pneumonia if we stay out here anymore." James said.

He helped me up and Peter gave me the jacket that he had on and put it around my shoulders.

"Make sure that you take that off me before we get to Sirius." I said with a small laugh.

"Don't worry, I will." Peter said, rubbing the back of his neck, uncomfortably.

I giggled weakly. The two of them walked me up to the castle. I must have been so cold I couldn't feel it because, when I walked into the entrance hall, I felt really warm. I took Peter's jacket off me and gave it back to him. They went with me all the way to their dorm where Sirius had destroyed and was now sitting and panting on his bed with his head in his hands.

"Padfoot." I said weakly. He looked up and saw it was me and waved for me to come to him.

"Where were you?" Sirius asked.

His voice was slurring slightly. He was drunk. I smelt fire whiskey on his breath. I knelt down in front of him. I didn't I had been gone long enough for him to get this drunk.

"I went into the woods to clear my mind a little." I said softly.

"Who went in with you?" Sirius asked.

"No one. I was out there by myself." I said.

"Why did you come in with Peter and James?" Sirius asked.

"Sirius, they came out to get me. They brought me to you." I said gently.

"You were out there with our best friends, with no one else around?" Sirius asked.

He lifted his head up and looked at me. I blinked a few time. This was an entirely new side of him. I had seen him slightly intoxicated before, but never this bad. He drank at the celebrations after Quidditch games, but he always controlled himself and only drank enough to have a good time. This time, however, he seemed to be drinking to drown his pain. I didn't like it.

"Padfoot, you are drunk. We'll talk about this later when you're sober, okay?" I asked gently.

"Answer my damn question." Sirius harshly.

"Sirius, I will talk with you when you're sober. Right now, you can't understand." I said.

"ANSWER ME! WERE YOU OUT THERE WITH THEM BY YOURSELVES?" Sirius shouted.

He grabbed my shoulders roughly and dragged me to my feet as he stood up too.

"I was but nothing happened. We were out there no less than 5 minutes together." I said.

My voice was still even and calm despite the fact that Sirius was raging mad.

"Things can happen that fast, Songbird." Sirius said. I sighed and then gently pushed Sirius's hands away from me.

"You are too drunk to talk calmly with. I'll be up in the morning to see if you are sober enough to talk to. I'll make sure that you have something for the hangover that you are going to have." I said.

I walked calmly across the room to the door. I turned back and looked at Sirius's shocked face.

"I love you Sirius. Goodnight." I said and then I left.

I walked up to my dorm to see Lily taking off her clothes and getting ready for bed.

"You went and talked to Sirius?" she asked and I nodded.

I took off my jacket and sat down on my bed. I flopped backwards and looked up at the canopy. I was so glad that it was only Lily and I in the dorm.

"How drunk was he?" Lily asked. Her bed springs creaked when she sat on her bed.

"Drunk enough to think that I would do something with James and Peter. And before I forget to ask, what's going on with you two? You seemed to be having a great time tonight." I said.

"Well, he asked me to be his girlfriend, but I told him that I wasn't ready. If he asked me later on in my life, I might be, but not now." Lily said. I turned over to look at her. She was looking at the floor and seemed sad.

"Tiger, you just broke a really good heart, I hope you know. But if that's the way things are going to be, so be it." I said with a shrug.

I would really like to see those two together. They were so cute.

"I know, but I really don't know what to think about him. He can be so immature." Lily said, rubbing her arm uncomfortably.

"Lills, he's not always like that. He just has a bad tendency to show off. He is really obsessed with you. When he thinks no one is looking, he's staring at you. He really is in love with you. Give him a chance." I said, getting up.

I went and got changed in the bathroom. When I came back, Lily had closed her curtains and I assumed went to bed. I got into bed after blowing out the candles. I closed my curtains and sealed them shut. I suddenly started to cry. Some way to start off a relationship.


	15. The Aftermath

I ended up falling asleep rather quickly. I was exhausted. I woke up rather late next morning. I opened the curtains to find that Lily was already awake and gone. Her presents were still at the end of the bed, unopened. I put on my dressing gown and walked out of the dorm. I walked down my stairs and up the boy's stairs to Cloud's dorm. I knocked and heard his voice beckoning me to enter. I opened the door and saw that all of his friends were opening their gifts.

"Thanks for the shirt, Sky. Love it." Zac yelled upon my entrance.

I got him a shirt that said, "Silence is Golden but duct Tape is silver" on it. I smiled and nodded to him.

"Cloud, do you have anything for hangovers?" I asked softly.

"You weren't drunk last night were you?" Cloud asked.

"No but Sirius was. I told him that I'd be up this morning with something for the hangover he was bound to have." I said, just as soft.

"I see." John said suspiciously.

"Do I look like I have a hangover to you?" I yelled.

I put my hands on my hips and looked at all five of the guys in the room.

"No you don't Sky. Here give this to Sirius." Cloud said.

He handed me a crystal bottle with soft green liquid inside.

"He has to drink all of that." Cloud said.

I nodded in thanks and then walked out of the room, closing the door softly behind me. I walked down to Sirius's dorm and knocked softly.

"State your name and business." Peter said through the door.

I sighed silently and rolled my eyes.

"Sky Elizabeth Strife and I'm here to help with Sirius's hangover." I said with an annoyed tone.

I heard whispering and then silence.

"I'm sorry, Songbird, but you can't come in." James said through the door.

I gritted my teeth to stay calm.

"James Potter, if you do not open this door right now I swear that I will break it down." I yelled through the door.

"You can't come in." Remus yelled.

"DON'T TRY MY PATIENCE! I WILL BREAK IT DOWN!" I yelled louder.

"I would really like to let you in, but for your own mental good, I can't." Remus said calmly.

"Remus come out here and tell me why I can't come in there." I said.

I heard more whispering and then the door opened a crack and Remus slid out of it. Before I could get a good look, he closed the door.

"Sky, you don't know how much I want to let you in, but I can't. Sirius isn't himself." Remus said in a calm voice.

"Well, of course not. He was drunk and probably got drunker still after I left." I said in a "no duh" voice. I crossed my arms in agitation.

"Well, if you want the truth I'll give it to you. Let's go for a walk, please." Remus said. I sighed and was silent for a little while.

"Fine. I just want to get some better clothes on." I said.

Remus nodded understandingly and then walked down the stairs with me. I ran up my stairs and then put on some thick warm jeans and a nice warm long sleeve shirt. I ran back down the stairs and Remus was still waiting there. Remus and I walked out of the portrait hole together.

"Has anyone opened presents yet?" I asked, trying to start a conversation.

"Nope. Even though we are all in a state of panic, we stuck to our tradition." Remus said with a smirk.

I laughed a little at this. We had a tradition that no one in our circle of friends would open gifts until everyone was in the guys' dorm with their gifts.

"So why can't I see Sirius?" I asked in a lighthearted voice.

"It isn't that you can't, it's more that you really don't want to." Remus said cautiously.

"You are dogging my question, Moony. Tell me why I can't and/or don't want to see my boyfriend." I said with a little laughter in my voice.

I was trying to remain light about the situation, even though my mind was reeling with the worst things that could have happened to him.

"Well, he was really drunk last night. And you were right when you said that he got drunker still after you left. Well, he was so drunk that he almost wrung Peter's neck for being out in the woods with his girlfriend. He is gone mad with jealousy and we don't want you to go near him until we are sure it is safe for you. We're really afraid that he might hurt you because he has it stuck in his mind that you were out cheating on him." Remus explained.

"And I don't want to go near him because?" I asked.

"Well, he is on the borderline of suicide from the state he thinks he's in. We are really afraid that he'll go homicidal if you go near him." Remus said.

We stopped our slow gate of walking to look at each other.

"I want to see him Remus. I understand what you are trying to say, but I promised him that I would be up there. I really need to see him. Do you understand?" I asked.

Remus sighed and looked at the cold stone floor to our right.

"I do, Songbird. I guess I will understand entirely when I find a love like the one you and Sirius share." Remus said with a smile.

I smiled back at him and then we went back to his dorm. I walked in with Remus and I saw Sirius with his head in his hands propped up with his elbows on his knees.

"Sirius." I said softly.

He flinched and looked up at the door. His eyes widened in fear? Why was he scared of me?

"Are you alright Sirius?" I asked softly.

"Why are you here?" Sirius said, almost in a whisper.

"I came here to help you like I promised, that is if you remember." I said.

"I do. I can remember quite clearly." Sirius said.

I cautiously over to him and knelt down in front of him.

"I got this from Cloud. He said it would help if you drink all of it." I said. I held up the small bottle.

"Help what? The heartache that I have because my girlfriend cheated on me with my best friend?" Sirius asked with a half-laugh. He looked up at me with bloodshot eyes.

"Sirius, I love you. I would never do that." I said.

I looked him right in the eyes. He looked at me for the longest time before looking down. I sat there waiting for an answer.

"How can I believe you? You came up here from the woods with our two best friends." Sirius said.

"Padfoot, look at me." I said suddenly very firm.

He didn't move.

"Look at me Sirius." I said louder.

He flinched but looked up at me all the same.

"I can't change what you have stuck in your mind with any spell. I can make you see clearer to the truth though. Sirius tell me what you see in my eyes right now." I said.

Sirius looked at me.

"I see determination, stubbornness, and something else." Sirius said slowly.

"It's love, Padfoot. I love you and that is what you have trust. I didn't do anything with James or Peter. I love you and only you." I said, cupping his face with my hands.

He was silent while I looked at him. Something changed in his eyes right there. They turned from an untrusting darkness to the look he normally gave me.

"I believe you Sky. I really do." He said in a soft whisper.

I smiled and gave him a warm kiss. He returned it with all the love that I was giving him. We broke away and looked at each other for a few seconds.

"Now I'll get a glass for this potion so you can get rid of that lovely headache I know you have. Get in bed and lie down." I said in a motherly tone.

He rolled his eyes but did so. I stood up and looked at the other guys. I gave them the "And you didn't think that me coming in here would help?" look and got a glass off of the little table by the window.

So that was the beginning of a beautiful relationship. We dated for the rest of our 5th year. Sirius was true to his word and did spend a month with Cloud and me during that summer. Cloud did not return with us the next year to Hogwarts. He left school at the end of my 5th year. 6th year went through without a hitch. The Marauders more and more corrupted Lily but she was very valuable to have around. She could always give us a quick cover for anything we wanted to do. I love Lily. But Sirius and I grew more and more attached by the year. We spent a lot of time together, even around the crazy Quidditch schedule that John, now captain and in his 7th year, had pulled out. We won the Cup in my 6th year and I have never seen Sirius happier for me. That Christmas he got me a new promise ring. He traded out the old rose ring for a new ring that wrapped around the part of your finger between the hand and the first knuckle. At the top end of the ring, there was a beautiful emerald and at the bottom, there was a sapphire. During the summer of my 6th year I spent it mostly with Sirius. But after the few attempts that Regulas made at rape, Sirius walked out with me. We only had a week or so left, so it was no big deal. But the beginning of my 7th year is where we will pick up.


	16. Trainride

Sirius and I walked through the barrier together, hand in hand. He had told a joke so I was laughing hard. I sighed and leaned against his shoulder. He kissed the top of my head with love. He had really changed. He had never once cheated on me. Or, if he did, I never knew about it. But I was happy and that was only thing that mattered. I had cut my hair over the summer. It had grown down past my butt so I decided that it was time to get a haircut. My hair was now down to just past my shoulder blades. I gave my hair to a good cause, even if it was a Muggle cause. I gave my hair to Locks of Love. They always needed hair, so there my 12+ inches of hair went. Cloud came in behind us with a trolley full of our stuff. He had volunteered to push it, so I was not complaining.

I spotted a very familiar head of red hair. I ran over and saw Lily. She was standing there while James lifted her luggage onto the train. He was such the gentleman now. They weren't officially together or anything, but he was really trying. I presumed he was waiting for the right opportunity. He had invited her to his house for a visit over the summer, in an attempt to win her over. I'm not sure if it worked because they seemed to be just as they were before: James was in awe at her presence, and Lily was oblivious to his obvious fawning.

"Hey Tiger. How was the summer at James's?" I asked as the 4 of us walked to our compartment.

"Oh it was lots of fun. Mrs. Potter was very generous and it was a really good time." She said happily.

I smiled and linked arms with Sirius. He helped me onto a train like any good gentleman would and we all walked to the compartment. We found that Remus and Peter were sitting there already. Remus was reading a book and Peter was just staring off into space.

"What is the rule, Moony?" I asked in a sweet tone.

"I can't read while on the train." Remus said lowly.

He marked his page and put the book away. I smiled and sat in my regular seat. I sat in Sirius's lap in the corner next to the window. James sat across from me and Lily sat between him and Remus. Peter was sitting next to Sirius and I. We all talked for a while, waiting for the train to start. Then suddenly the door slid open. Cloud stood there looking at James.

"Why are you here Cloud? Not that I'm not glad to see you." Lily asked.

She had gotten Head Girl this year. That was one of the things that she told us in our conversation.

"I'm waiting for James to move out of my seat." Cloud said nicely.

James grumbled but moved over for Cloud to sit down.

"Again, why are you here?" Lily asked.

"I'm going to be teaching this year." Cloud said, casually.

"I'm going to pass with flying colors." I said with a chuckle.

"Nope I can't play favorites." Cloud said with a smirk.

I pouted but Sirius held me closer to comfort me. I laughed and then the train started. We rode to Hogwarts, playing the usual game of Exploding Snap, which I once again beat James in. I was able to actually win a game of Wizard's Chess against Remus. Remus thought I had cheated though because Sirius was whispering in my ear. This wasn't true, however. He was blowing in my ear and tickling me. Remus and I had finished our game in time for us to change. I stayed while the others, including Cloud who was still in his casual clothes, went to change. I was humming to myself as I changed. I had just finished when I heard the door slide open then closed. I turned and there was no one there. I shrugged and turned back around. I gasped when I saw Sirius standing there with a smirk on his face.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack." I said, calming my now rapid beating heart down.

"I try." Sirius said, still smirking.

I stuck my tongue out at him. He laughed and then went and sat down and I sat on his lap. I sighed and leaned against him.

"This is so nice. Just me and you together alone." I said.

He nodded and started to kiss my neck.

"Sirius, not now." I said. Sirius sighed and then stopped.

"You do understand that I will tell you when I'm ready to take that next step, right?" I asked, looking back at him.

"I know. I will wait forever for you." Sirius said.

I looked back and smiled at him. I gave him a quick kiss and then we looked out the window. The rest of the group, minus Cloud, came back in and we talked some more.

"We need something to go out with a bang." Peter said.

"A little more detail please, Wormtail." James said.

"We need some sort of trick to go out with a bang." Peter said.

"Like what?" I said, honestly interested.

"I mean something that we have never done before. But something that will leave a mark forever on the school." Peter said, struggling for an idea.

"We could leave the map behind. It is an everlasting trick." James suggested.

"Well, yes but I was thinking more along the lines of something flashy and mildly dangerous so no one else will want to try something else like it." Peter said.

"We could replace all of the beauty products of the female teachers. That is mildly dangerous." I said.

"I meant something that could possibly get us killed." Peter said exasperated.

"That could very well get us killed." I said with a shrug.

"I mean something that could involve jumping off something, fire, or explosives." Peter said.

"Man, you have no social life Pete. You need to find yourself a girl, mate." James said.

Peter looked at him with an "Oh real cute" look. James laughed and leaned back, ruffling his hair. My eye twitched slightly but it went unnoticed.

"But I like the idea of fire. We could bewitch something to breathe fire." I said.

"That's sounds lethal." Lily said sarcastically.

"Oh great. Then it is settled. But what to bewitch is the true question." I said. We lapsed into silence.

"Chickens. We could enlarge 3 chickens and label them 1, 2, and 4. We could make them breathe fire and set them loose on the school. Once the teachers caught them, they would see the 1, 2, and 4 and spend forever looking for chicken number 3." Remus said, snapping his fingers.

"That actually sounds really fun." I said.

"But that is a one-time thing." James said.

"What about we do a series of really good pranks, holiday oriented." Peter said.

"Okay we could do the chicken thing on Halloween. What about Christmas?" James said, pulling out a piece of parchment.

"We could kidnap Peeves, trick and/or pay him into an elf's costume and follow Flitch around singing parodies of different Christmas songs in his ears all day." I said.

"I like that but what about going in between classrooms and doing it." Sirius said.

"Brilliant." James said excitedly.

He wrote it down and we had to think of something for Valentine's Day.

"What about picking on certain people?" Lily said.

"You kick ass, Tiger. But what do you have in mind?" I asked.

"It is something Muggle, but we could put up flyers with different pictures and sayings on them." Lily said.

"Like what, Tiger?" I asked.

"Call such and such for a good time, have you seen my hooker, runaway slut, and the like." Lily said.

"That would be fun. And I'm thinking of a group of Slytherins that this prank is PERFECT for." I said with an evil smile.

"That will be perfect. But we need to go all out for April Fool's Day." James said, writing the prank down.

"We could use a spell to put an invisible force field on all of the toilet bowls." I suggested.

"There was this really good one that was in the Muggle paper last summer. These people at a school in Surrey put shaving cream in these folder things and then slid them on the door and them stepped on them" Lily said.

"Both are really good." Sirius said.

"We could let off bouncy balls in the hallways." I said.

"Say what?" James and Sirius asked in unison.

"They are little rubber balls that bounce like crazy. I say that we each take a different hallway and then let a couple pocket full of them loose during the time we have to change class. That would be classic." I said.

"Or even better, during supper." Remus said.

"A wonderful way to end our day." I said.

Just then the door slid open. It was Regulas and his band of loyal followers.

"What are you up to?" Regulas sneered.

"Organizing havoc, planning chaos, and anything else that is highly dangerous and could be very likely to get us killed." I said sweetly.

"How mature." Regulas said.

"I know isn't it?" I said in the same sticky sweet tone.

Just then, Severus joined them.

"Oh how lovely of you to join our little party Sinvelus. Did you bring the tea?" James taunted.

I suppressed a laugh to a snort.

"You know you aren't so big and bad when you aren't around your precious friends or your boyfriend, Sky." Regulas said.

"I could say the same for you, Reggie dear." I said, still very sticky sweet.

I was clutching Sirius for dear life. My knuckles were white from holding his arm that was around my waist so hard. I was honestly terrified of Regulas after the past summer.

"But my dear, you know very well what I almost did to you. So you aren't scared of me?" Regulas said.

"Again, I could say the same for you." I said.

He whipped out his wand and I froze.

"I could do so many things to you right now." He said. I was shaking.

"Back off Regulas." Remus said, standing up.

"Oh please. You go shove your nose in a book, you teacher's pet." Snape said.

"That was uncalled for, Snape." James said, firing up.

He stood up and went to face the group of Slytherins. Sirius kissed my cheek and then moved me out of his lap. He also stood up to protect me.

"Stand down and lower your wands." Sirius growled.

"Or else what? You going to prank us to death?" Regulas said in a mock interested tone.

Just then, James punched Snape in the jaw. One of the little girls that followed them around screamed and her friend gasped. She turned and fired a curse at James. It him in the chest and sent him fly to the floor. He hit his head and Lily was on the floor next to him. He was out cold. Sirius was dodging curses from all of the Slytherins. I got really angry and sent two little minions flying back down the hall, Snape flying into the wall, and the rest in the opposite direction as the rest. I got up and stopped Regulas from punching Sirius in the face. I was able to grab his and right before it contacted with Sirius's face. I twisted Regulas's hand around and forced him to his knees.

"Now who is weak?" I whispered harshly.

"SKY LET HIM GO!" I heard someone yell.

I looked up and saw Cloud coming toward me. He was raging mad.

"He started it, Cloud!" I said in whiney voice.

"Get in there now! You guys hit the highway before I give you all detention for life!" Cloud yelled.

He was furious so I knew better than to test his patience. I ran for cover in my compartment. I pulled Sirius in before he could mutilate his little brother even more.

"I thought that you knew better than that. You all should be punished for a long time because of this." Cloud yelled.

He was furious and I knew better than to mouth back. Sirius didn't though.

"They deserved it and you know it! They came in a started to harass us for no reason." Sirius yelled back, standing up to get in Cloud's face.

"Sirius, sit down." I hissed, trying to pull him back down.

"If I knew you less than what I do, Sirius, I wouldn't believe a word of that. But I do know you better, so I do believe you. I still think that using physical force to get what you want is also uncalled for, Sky." Cloud said, calming down but turning to me.

"He started it! He was threatening her and she was scared!" Lily yelled.

She had pulled James onto the seat and was looking him over. She seemed to be on the verge of tears.

"I wasn't scared!" I hissed at her.

"You were to. Your knuckles were white and you froze when Regulas pulled his wand out." Remus said.

"I was not scared!" I yelled standing up. "I was not scared! I was terrified!" I yelled, starting to cry.


	17. The Rat

I stormed out of the compartment, slamming the door behind me. I ran all the way down to the muggle boxcar at the end. I went into the other compartment that I went into when I wanted to be alone. I went in and didn't even bother to close the door. No one came down here. I sat in the corner and then cried. I was so scared of what Regulas could do. I didn't want to call him out because I knew he was powerful on his own and even more so with his friends behind him. I hated living in fear of a guy younger than me. It was irritating not to mention humiliating. I suddenly felt someone else in the compartment with me. I suddenly silenced and quit moving. It was getting dark and I was hidden by the shadows of the compartment.

"Sky? I know you ran this way and this is where you normally are." I heard Sirius say.

I shot up and he jumped in surprise.

"Don't scare me like that." He said, sitting next to me.

"Sirius, I am terrified of your brother. He may be younger than me, but he is powerful." I said in a heavy voice.

"So what should we do?" I asked.

"Either face him and take him down in front of the whole school or just keep a low profile until our pranks." Sirius said, putting his hands up like a scale.

He was measuring what each thing would be like in his mind and then moving his hands up and down to represent the decision I should make.

"Stick with the low profile." He said in the end.

I couldn't help but laugh a little. He smiled and sat down next to me.

"We still haven't made a prank up for Easter." Sirius said. I sat back in thought.

"They're always the classic rotten eggs hidden in the classrooms." I said.

"Then again, when have we ever gone with a classic trick?" I said to myself.

Sirius laughed then suddenly there was a muffled voice from within his pocket. Sirius sighed and pulled it out.

"What James?" he said.

"Where are you guys?" James asked back.

"What's it to ya?" I yelled.

"Cloud blew off some steam so it is safe to come back. Not to mention that the prats have detention until Christmas." James said. I laughed and so did Sirius.

"Well, we're almost to the castle, you coming back any time soon?" James asked.

"Yea I guess." Sirius said after looking at me for approval. I was better now so I felt I could go back.

"Well, see ya in about 2 minutes then." James said and his face disappeared.

Sirius put the mirror in his pocket in his pocket and then looked at me.

"We will have time to ourselves later." I said with a smile.

Sirius smiled back and then we got up. I was about to walk out but then Sirius yanked me back into his arms. I looked up into his eyes and he looked into mine. He planted his lips on mine sweetly. I smiled into the kiss and pressed my lips harder on his. We broke away and then walked out of the compartment. We did that often just to make sure that the other was feeling better. If either Sirius or myself didn't respond or pulled away, then he and I was would sneak off and talk it out. But we walked to the regular compartment in silence, just because there was nothing to say. I had a close relationship with all my friends but Sirius and I shared something that just had no need for words. James, Lily, Sirius and I could just look into anyone of our eyes and see what was on our minds. James said that this was a form of Divination and we should get extra credit for it, but I just said it was a really close relationship. Remus and Peter seemed to stay distanced from the group now for some reason. Remus just didn't want us to get hurt. But Peter was a different story. He just seemed to be drifting away from the group more and more. He didn't want to eat with us during meals. He was sneaking off a lot on his own. I followed him once but lost him when he went outside. It just seemed to be a bit strange seeing as no one could get him away from James, Sirius, and I in the 6th year. But we walked into the compartment to see that Peter was missing again.

"Where's Wormtail?" I asked. Sirius sat down and I sat in his lap.

James glared out the window and Remus's face went hard.

"Well, after you left, Cloud went to do something about getting the kids in trouble." Lily started slowly.

"We heard." Sirius said.

"Well, after Cloud left, Peter said that those guys had a point. Sky had a weakness and she should be ashamed of it." Lily said.

I laughed hollowly at this. The filthy little hypocrite.

"And then James said that Regulas and his gang had no right to come after Sky like that. Peter fired back with they had the right idea to get rid of the Muggleborn supporters. Remus pointed out that I was sitting here and then Peter said…well, he umm" Lily said, unable to finish.

"He said that something was rising up and the Mudbloods and the blood traitors would be the first to go." James spat out.

I gasped and looked at Sirius. His face was twisted in rage.

"Where'd the little rat run away to?" Sirius spat out bitterly.

"Well, after he said that, he left the compartment. We haven't seen him in about 5 minutes." Lily said.

"He will be sorry when he comes back." James said.

"Padfoot, Prongs, Moony, calm down." I said loudly.

"Songbird, he insulted one of us! He doesn't want to come back!" Remus said.

I sighed and then looked at Lily. She shook her head in shame.

"Listen, I'll go find him and talk to him. I knock some sense into him." I said, standing up.

"Songbird,-" Sirius started.

I cut him off by raising a hand.

"Lily doesn't want to get near him right now. I'm not letting you guys get within arms reach of him until I can talk to him first." I said.

James sighed but waved to say, "Go ahead." Remus just nodded. Sirius was silent but in the end gave me the look to say, "Go ahead but don't make me regret this." I smiled and then walked out of the compartment. We were in the back so I just had to walk to the front and look for him. The only thing behind us was the bathrooms and changing rooms plus the Muggle car. I stopped briefly to look in each of the compartments. I walked about halfway before I found him with the strangest assortment of people. I heard his voice coming out of a compartment with Regulas, Snape and their followers in it.

"You are doing good, Pete. But what did you find out about that werewolf?" Regulas asked.

"He's only trying to edge away from the group of traitors because he knows. He's afraid that he will slip to them." Peter said with a slight laugh.

This was a whole new Peter. He was being bold and kind of evil.

"Well, as long as they don't know, everything will work out fine." Snape said in a sneer.

"When are you going to get her?" Peter asked.

"Second chance that we get. We will let her run her life for a week, and then we will figure out when we can catch our little bird." Regulas said.

"You aren't going to hurt her too badly are you?" Peter asked.

I half smiled at this. At least he still had humanity.

"Depends on how bad is your sense of bad is." Regulas said.

"She is going to regret ever messing with you guys." One of the girls said.

My breath was taken away as they continued to talk about their plans. I leaned against the wall and continued to listen.

"But Wormtail-"

"Don't call me that." Peter snapped at Regulas.

"I get it. You don't want that name that was given to you by blood traitors." Another unfamiliar voice said with a snicker.

"But Peter, how could you put up with their attitudes for so long? It was about 5 and a half years that they had control over you." Regulas said.

"I just didn't know any better. I found what was really best for me." Peter said.

They all laughed and then things went into a different conversation. I looked at the floor, completely shocked.

"So this is where you've been all this time Wormtail." I said under my breath.

"I thought I heard something." Regulas said.

"You're hearing things." someone said.

"No. Someone's outside." He said.

I was frozen by fear so I couldn't move. I pressed my body flat against the wall, hoping that he wouldn't see me. He opened the door and looked down the hall. Then he spotted me. Oh shit.


	18. Frozen

Regulas smirked a sick smirk at me and then grabbed my hair

"Look what the cat dragged in." Regulas said, dragging me into the compartment by my hair.

"I only came looking for Peter." I said slapping his hand away.

"Since when did you care?" Peter spat.

"Since when did you start calling Lily that word?" I spat back, giving him a death glare.

"Your little Wormtail has been very useful, Sky." Snape said.

I looked around and saw that he was nursing a bruised jaw, and some of the others were also I heard the door shut behind me and seal itself shut. I was screwed.

"Really? He's kissing your asses now?" I asked sweetly.

"You know that I've been slightly jealous of my brother since he started dating you. You have spirit. You are like an animal cornered. You always have some fight, even if it is just to escape and hide behind someone else." Regulas said, breathing down my neck.

It sent cold shivers down my spine and made me freeze up.

"But Peter has YET to provide us with the secret to your success in your mischief making." Regulas said, coming out from behind me.

"And you will never get it either." I said, now SO glad that James and Lily had it over the vacation.

"But I'm sure that you could tell us." Snape said, pulling out his wand.

"Put it away." Regulas spat.

Snape glared at him but did so.

"Over my cold rotting corpse." I said.

"That can be arranged, my dear." Regulas said, pushing me back into the door and pressing himself on me.

"Get off of me you horny bastard." I spat. I glared at him colder than I ever have before.

"There's that fight that I was talking about." Regulas said with a small chuckle.

"Come on princess, just give me your secret." He said in the old language.

I spat in his face. "Never." I said back in the old language.

He took a few steps back and then wiped the spit from his face with disgust. He glared at me.

"If you would have just given it to me, then this wouldn't have to happen. But you are going to regret ever defying me." Regulas said.

He pointed his wand at the door behind me and then it unsealed and opened. I looked at Peter and he shook his head.

"So you chose them?" I asked.

He looked at me. I read his eyes like an open book. He was sorry for doing that but he was at the same time happy that he did.

"If that is your choice, I respect it. Don't expect a warm welcome from the others Wormtail. They are not happy at all. Lily might speak to you briefly. But I can forgive and forget. Remember that, Pete." I said with a stern look.

He nodded in understanding. I walked out of the compartment and then stopped to listen.

"Why can she call you Wormtail and not us?" Regulas asked.

"Marauders stick together. It is something that you will never understand until you have friends like I had." Peter said.

I smiled to myself and then left that area completely. I walked quickly back to the compartment with my other friends in it. I opened the door to see Sirius and James glaring away from each other. I looked at Lily's eyes for an explanation. I read that James and Sirius fought about me when I left. I asked her with my eyes about what and she told me about my safety. I nodded and then sat down next to Sirius. I rubbed his arm in a comforting manner. It was so nice that something like this didn't need words.

"So what happened with Wormtail?" Remus asked.

"I tried talking sense to him, but he's hard headed and smart. He wanted to wait until James and Sirius calmed down to come back." I said, making up a quick lie.

"Really? That's not like Wormtail." James said mildly shocked.

"Yeah he just didn't want to come back." I said with a sigh.

Just then, the train started to slow down.

"Man this train ride flew by." I said with a laugh.

I went to grab Moon and my other bag. Someone else would carry my trunk in. I had my owl and my other bag under each arm and walked down the halls with my friends to the nearest door. It was raining again. Nope, correction. It was STORMING, lightning and all. I got out into the rain and was almost instantly soaked.

"First years this way!" I heard Hagrid shouting.

I could almost see his bulky frame in the silhouette through the rain. But I was busy being pulled with the group and the general flow of older kids towards the carriages. I gave a short nod to the threshal and then got in the carriage. I sat down and looked at Moon.

"You poor thing." I said.

She was soaked and looked like she was going to drown. I put a hand on her head and dried her off. She nuzzled my hand affectionately and then hooted low. I giggled and the petted her softly. I looked up and saw that everyone minus Cloud and Peter was already in the carriage and looking at me with pleading eyes.

"Oh alright." I said, rolling my eyes.

I touched each of their shoulders and they were dried off. I touched my own shoulder afterwards and dried myself. I moved Moon's cage onto my lap. The carriage started off towards the castle and I looked out the window. The lake was horrible.

"I'd hate to be a first year." Lily said.

We all nodded and then we were silent. I looked out the window and thought about Peter again. I sighed aloud and sort of bowed my head.

"What's the matter, Songbird?" Lily asked.

"It is just something on my mind is all." I said heavily.

"Like what?" James asked.

"I just have a strange feeling that things are going to happen that can never unhappen." I said, still looking out the window.

"It's going to be fine. This is our last year at Hogwarts. We will reign supreme over all who dare to try and stop our mischief!" James said dramatically.

"Rain nor sleet nor snow shall stop our fun this year! Teachers shall quake in fear at our power of all that is no good!" Sirius said loudly joining in on the joke.

I couldn't help but laugh. Being with these guys could take away any doubts in my mind. We joked around for the rest of the carriage ride up to the castle. When we got to the castle, we made a mad dash for the school and found the doors locked.

"THIS IS JUST PERFECT!" Sirius yelled over the pounding rain.

"Five galleons say that it was Peeves." James grumbled.

"Well, looky looky looky! This is so much different than our last meeting." I heard a sly voice say from behind me.

I turned and saw Regulas's group minus Peter standing there. Just bloody great.

"What do you want?" James yelled at them.

"To get in the same as you." Snape said.

"Well the doors are locked." Lily said agitated.

"Well move it and we'll open them." Regulas said.

"By all means." I said, really wanting to get into the dry building.

Regulas and his group walked by us and tried to open the door. First Regulas tried pounding on it. The he backed off. Then Snape tried to pound on it. He said some strange spell but it didn't work. The entire group tried to open the door but it didn't work. By this time, I was shivering very badly and my teeth were chattering. All of the carriages had come already and the students were standing around. I was shaking and leaning on Sirius for strength.

"Why are the doors locked on a day that it is storming?" I asked under my breath.

"We need to get you inside. You are really pale and your lips are blue." James said.

I nodded, too weak to do anything else. I was leaning against Sirius, loving the fact that he was warmer than I was.

"Your entire face is turning blue Songbird." He pointed out under his breath.

He put his lips to mine and tried to warm me like that, but I couldn't feel it.

"We need to get the doors open. I don't care what you have to do to get them open Prongs, but open those doors." Sirius said to James.

James nodded and stepped forward. He pulled out his wand and said a spell. I was shaking worse by now because the wind had started to pick up. I heard a loud noise that was pretty close to an explosion. Sirius picked me up and carried me into the castle. He ran to the hospital wing.

"Madame Pomfrey. She needs help." Sirius shouted.

The nurse came out from her office in her best clothes, obviously from primping before the feast.

"What happened?" she asked, ushering Sirius to put me on a bed.

"The doors were locked and we have been standing out in the rain for about 30 minutes. She is shaking like a leaf and is blue from head to toe." Sirius said, putting me on the bed.

"Well, I'm going to have to ask you to leave briefly so I can get these wet clothes off of her." Pomfrey said.

Sirius didn't respond for a couple seconds but then he nodded and left. Pomfrey started to peal the wet clothes from my skin, all the way down to the undergarments. She put them in the bedpan and then started to wrap me like a baby in the blankets. She wrapped me in so many blankets that I lost count. All I knew was that I felt better to be a little bit warmer. Madame Pomfrey put a hand on my forehead but drew back quickly.

"You are still ice cold." She muttered.

"Mr. Black, come back in here please." She called.

Sirius rushed back in but this time he had Lily, James, Remus, and Peter with him.

"Oh good. I need you and Mr. Potter to strip down to your undergarments and give your body heat to Miss Strife. If her brother was here, I would ask him, but you two are the only ones." She said.

You didn't have to tell them twice. Even though James loved Lily, he was still getting out of his robes and other clothes except for his underwear. Sirius had his clothes off quick as a flash and was starting to peel away blankets.

"Nothing inappropriate under there too." Madame Pomfrey said.

James and Sirius were on either side of me, sandwiching me between them. They were both really warm and I whimpered because the body heat that they gave off was burning to my cold body.

"It'll be okay, Songbird." Sirius whispered.

It sounded like he was trying to tell himself this rather than me. I nodded weakly and then put my head back against James's shoulder.

"You are going to be fine, Songbird. Prongs and Padfoot are here to take care of you." James whispered in my ear.

I smiled at both of them. I leaned back forward and put my head on Sirius's bare chest. I listened to his rapid but very steady heartbeat. Soon the warmth wasn't burning anymore and I fell asleep almost instantly.

I woke up after several hours, blinking in the bright light. I tried to sit up and found that an arm was around my shoulders and there was one around my waist. I looked and saw that Sirius was sleeping on one side of me and James was on the other side. I smiled and settled myself again in the crook between Sirius's shoulder and his chest where my head had just been. He seemed to sense my movement and awoke with a start.

"Morning." He said sleepily.

"How did you sleep?" I asked.

"Well enough. Are you feeling better?" Sirius asked.

"Warmer for sure but I still feel weak." I said with a small smile. James slowly stirred behind me.

"Good morning Songbird, Padfoot. How are you both this lovely morning?" he asked with slight laughter in his sleepy tone.

I giggled and then coughed. Sirius looked at the door behind me anxiously, almost expecting the nurse to burst from within at the slightest sound of sickness.

"I think that we should fetch Madame Pomfrey for you. See if we can get you out of here." Sirius said, gently stroking the side of my face.

I nodded and carefully let the out from under my cocoon of blankets. They quickly put on their now dry clothes and hurried over to the door behind which Madame Pomfrey was. They knocked politely and waited. She soon came out looking fearful.

"Madame, is she alright to go?" James asked in a polite tone.

The nurse sighed and then went over to me. Sirius and James stood opposite her as she checked my temperature and other vital signs.

"Well, as far as I can tell, she'll be fine." The nurse said.

And then I sneezed so loud that everyone jumped.

"Well, maybe a simple potion for the common cold will do her a world of good too. Then she is free to leave." The nurse laughed.

I sniffed and managed a weak smile. Madame Pomfrey disappeared shortly and returned with a goblet. She set the goblet down and shooed the boys out so I could sit up. She gave me the goblet after I was fully sitting. The potion inside tasted like peppermint. I almost instantly felt better once I was finished. I smiled and tried to stand up. But the nurse held me back.

"Try to stay out of the cold for a while, please. You are very vulnerable to sickness right now so try to avoid it, if you don't mind." The nurse said with a kind smile.

I laughed, nodded, and dressed myself in my dry school robes from the night before. Sirius and James were waiting for me by the door. Life was good when I had such great friends. They walked me down to the Great Hall, where breakfast was being served. We entered to a bunch of gasps. But there were a few jeers from the green end of the hall.

"Record timing, eh Strife? Not even two minutes and you are already in and out of the hospital." I heard someone shout.

But I didn't care. I sat between James and Sirius in our group of friends. Everyone was there, including Peter. It was awkward between us, to say the least. He refused to make eye contact with Remus or me. He ate quietly and then left. McGonagal was only just able to catch him with his new schedule. This year was a busy year but nothing was going to make this year bad for me. I had my best friends and partners in crime around me; I was in my last year of school; my big brother was teaching my favorite class; nothing was going to spoil this year for me.


	19. Professor Strife

I started after breakfast towards Arithmancy with Remus. It seemed that things were not going to change much in the people I had in my classes. Remus and I had Arithmancy and then we walked together, laughing at the lame class we just had, to Defense Against the Dark Arts. I was eager to see what Cloud had planned. We walked into the classroom and I barely recognized it. Cloud had decorated it with shelves upon shelves of the defense book we had at home. There were cases with the various parts of his sword in them as well on top of the bookcases. I marveled at how dusty those cases were. I sighed and looked to where the teacher's desk was.

I saw Cloud sitting there, reclining in his spiny chair with his feet up on his desk. His head was bowed and his eyes were closed. He looked asleep. But I knew better. I sat down at my desk in the back corner and waited. The rest of the class slowly filed in. Sirius sat next to me, James and Lily sat down at the table next to us and Remus and Peter sat at the last table in the back row. We did this in all the classes because we wanted to break up the general habit of the different house to sit in the same places in the classroom. But we shared this lesson with only the Slytherins so it was okay. All of the snakes crowded the corner closest to the windows. Everyone else was seated in the right seats.

When the bell rang the door suddenly slammed closed and the windows slammed shut. Cloud's boots slammed onto the floor as he stood up in one fluid motion. He silently tapped the board while looking around. The extended version of N.E.W.T.s was on the board.

"Move to the seats that I had placed." Cloud said.

I just noticed that the entire Slytherin group had taken up two tables by crowding around them. They gulped and then moved to the places where the chairs should have been. Cloud walked up and down the two rows while the entire room was sitting in fearful silence. I sat in amused silence as Cloud walked past Sirius and me. Then he placed himself at the head of the room again.

"This examination is at the end of this year. I will be highly disappointed if any of you do not scrape at least an Exceeds Expectations."

I had the nasty feeling that he was hinting that I get top marks or else. I looked at him with all my attention.

"This year will be divided into four different terms, each having their own mini-exam at the end of the unit."

Cloud tapped the board again and N.E.W.T.s were replaced by a course outline. Quills started to scratch. But I looked at it carefully. Cloud's handwriting was large and clear. This was the outline:

DEFENCE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS: YEAR 7

UNIT ONE: Review wordless magic

UNIT TWO: Wandless magic

UNIT THREE: Wandless and Wordless Magic

UNIT FOUR: Non-magical defense; when to use it and how to do it properly 

I raised my eyebrows at this. I slowly raised my hand. But Cloud waved it down. I shot him a glare and he returned it. When most of the quills stopped scratching, Cloud went on.

"We will start the year reviewing what you learned last year about wordless magic. Then we will move to wandless magic and then finally combine the two. As a relief opposite review, we will learn how to do non-magical defense and how to do it properly." He said.

I raised my hand again but Cloud chose to ignore me.

"So wands out and stand if you please." Cloud said.

"Professor." I said loudly.

Cloud again ignored me. We all stood up and Cloud waved his hand. All of the desk and our bags swept to either side of the room, leaving room for dueling.

"Now line up against the desks." Cloud said.

I still had my hand up as we did as he said.

"Professor Strife." I said a little louder.

But Cloud kept ignoring me.

"Now who can tell me the most useful spell one can learn to do without out saying a word?" Cloud asked.

I shook my hand, hoping that I could get a few answers of my own. Lily's hand also shot up.

"Miss Evans." Cloud said, still ignoring me.

"Stunning and Disarming are the two best ones." Lily said.

I sighed in agitation.

"Correct. Take five points for that." Cloud said happily.

"CLOUD!" I shouted.

Cloud froze and finally looked at me.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I have a question about the course outline." I said.

"Well, if you had a question about it you should have asked then." Cloud said.

"Well, I tried but you ignored me." I said pointedly.

Cloud sighed. "What is your question?" he said.

"Why are we learning non-magical defense?" I asked.

"I want to further expand on your defense tactics, in the rare chance that your wand is broken or is stolen. The chance is rare but you should still know how." Cloud said.

"See? That wasn't a hard question to answer." I said happily.

I instantly regretted it. Cloud's face muscles visibly tightened.

"I was going to ask for a volunteer but you'll help me." Cloud said.

I drew out my phoenix core wand of walnut and stepped forward cautiously. If I had learned anything from Cloud, it was to expect the unexpected. I felt something trying to touch at my mind. But I closed it off, thinking of the highest and most sturdy wall ever built. But in the back of my mind, I was starting to think of a curse to protect myself. Suddenly, there was a flash of red light. I summoned up the Shield Charm without saying a word. Then there was another flash of light and I jumped out of the way, doing a roll on the floor and blocking my mind as I fired a Disarming Charm at him. He blocked and sent another Stunning Spell at me. I blocked and sent Stun after Stun at him. He managed to block them all. Then suddenly I felt something in my mind knock over my temporarily weak wall. I put up another but wasn't able to get my Shield Charm up in time. I felt my wand spin out of my hand and Cloud caught it.

"Decent enough. Your mental defenses became weak, giving me entrance into your thoughts. Do not let that happen again." Cloud said sternly.

"Yes, big brother." I said humbly.

I bowed to him and he bowed back. I walked back over to my place between Sirius and James. I was exhausted. I leaned back against the desk as Cloud explained what happened.

"But one thing that is very important is the ability to block out intruders to your mind. Some of you may find this easier than others. I will try to enter your minds one at a time. To block me out, think of something that might create a barrier." Cloud said.

I smirked. He didn't want certain people in the room to know how to block him out correctly. I knew my friends would succeed but I wasn't sure about the Slytherin knot over at the far end of the row. Cloud started to enter the students' minds one at a time. Most of them gasped in pain and crumpled in pain. I knew Cloud was pushing them hard. He reached Lily and I waited. She was very red in the face. Cloud sighed and nodded.

"Very nice shield, Miss Evans." he said after a few moments.

I probed into James's mind and found a waterfall. The highest and fastest waterfall ever. I was at the bottom looking up. I assumed that a person would have to climb the waterfall to get to James's thoughts. I pulled out as I saw Cloud's face tighten in concentration. James was breathing hard. Cloud chuckled and then closed his eyes.

"It is a good idea in theory. But it takes a lot of concentration to keep something like that going in the heat of a battle." Cloud chuckled.

Cloud stood in front of me and I instantly pulled up my wall. He tried to push it down but I just pushed back. I saw his face tighten. I pushed back and forced my way into his mind. I was met with his cliff. I pushed against it and tried to knock it down. It was fruitless to try and climb it because I knew that the cliff face would just get higher and higher as one tried to climb it. I felt him push back but I kept my force up. Eventually he let go and I pulled out.

"Show off." He muttered.

I smirked at him, completely drained. He moved to Sirius and I saw his face relax. That was a new one. I raised my eyebrows and looked at Sirius's unfocused eyes. Cloud was also clearly shocked. I saw it in his eyes. Then suddenly, Cloud was pushed back about a foot.

"That's a new method but I guess it works." Cloud said in a low voice.

I looked at Sirius who smirked. I pushed into his mind and saw nothing. Everything was black. It was empty and blank. I smiled and pulled out. That's why Cloud was shocked. Sirius swept his mind clean so there was nothing to see. Then he shot a mental spell at him in the blink of an eye out of the darkness. I smiled at him and he smiled back. Then suddenly, Cloud was shouting at the end of the line.

"HOW DARE YOU!" he was shouting.

I looked like everyone else and saw that Snape was smirking slightly. I was confused. What did Snape do?

"How dare you use Legilimancy in a simple practice? And on a teacher? I'm taking you straight to the headmaster."

Cloud was furious. His normally soft, pale face was scarlet with anger. He turned to the rest of the class.

"Class dismissed." He said, taking Snape's upper arm and dragging him from the classroom.

I watched after him, very curious. What had Snape seen to make Cloud so angry? Then suddenly someone touched my arm. I whipped around and saw Sirius.

"Class is over, love. We have a break next class too. Let's go somewhere and hang out." Sirius said.

I nodded, still thinking rapidly. I let Sirius take my stuff and link hands with me. I was too distracted to walk right. Sirius led me back up to the tower and I sat in his lap while I stared at the fire. I was still trying to think what might have been in Cloud's mind that he wanted no one else to see.

"EARTH TO SONGBIRD!" I heard someone shriek.

I jumped violently and turned in the direction of to voice. James had yelled at me.

"Huh?" I said faintly.

"I asked you if you saw Peter as we came back. He's not here." James said.

I shook my head and looked back at the fire. I tried to recall everything that might have happened that would embarrassing. It definitely wasn't that cake incident on his sixteenth birthday. We had a good laugh about that at Cloud's graduation party. James had gotten a picture of his hair and face full of chocolate cake, laughing and put in an album that the Marauders had made for him. Could it be something about that girl he took a fancy after, Melissa. They had kept up contact after they were out of school and he really liked her. She seemed to like him too, but I couldn't be sure. Then I felt something cold on my arm. I squealed and jumped again. Remus had conjured some ice and put it against my skin.

"You are really out of it." He commented, sitting back in his chair. I shrugged.

"I was just thinking about Snape." I said lowly.

"You are thinking about Snape?" James asked, appalled.

"Not about him as a person. I mean I was thinking about what he did in Defense." I said. I looked back into the fire.

"Well, it could be any number of things that he saw." Sirius said, playing with the end of my hair gently.

"But he wouldn't get that mad if Snape saw just any old thing." I said, still looking into the fire.

"What about something that Cloud was hiding from everyone, even himself?" Lily asked.

I looked at her. I never even thought of that.

"There haven't been a lot of those moments." I said.

"But still." Lily said. I nodded and sighed.

"Don't worry your pretty head too much about it." Sirius said, kissing my cheek.

I smiled and started back into the conversation about the likelihood that Gryffindor would win the Quittich Cup this year. Soon enough, however, the break ended. We all stood up and walked out of the common room. We went our separate ways and finished the rest of the day without anything else exciting happening.

The week went the same as the first day. Everything got boring from then on. Snape had been temporarily suspended from all teams or clubs he was in and was not allowed to leave the Slytherin common room after dinner. This satisfied James and Sirius who took the opportunity to cause a little mayhem while he was locked up. No one could prove it was them and Snape was furious. He wanted to be there, catching Sirius and James in the act. But it was great inside joke among the Marauders. But everything else was just dull. Even Cloud's classes became increasingly more boring. We spent a lot of time on the theory behind wordless magic, most of the time taking notes from the blackboard. The other teachers had also gotten back into the monotony of the school year. Most classes were spent taking notes or practicing advanced magic that was extremely easy to people like James, Sirius, and I. The teachers could not do anything about our talking in the back of the class because we had already finished the work. But the week finished with a great relief. The weekend was much more fun that any of the week. Sirius, James, and I spent hours on the Quittich pitch, practicing different skills. James called practices of the team, seeing as he was now captain, about twice a day on Saturday to get some stress out. The weekend ended all too quickly, though, and the next week started with very little change.


	20. Stolen

I awoke on Monday to my alarm. I rolled over reluctantly and shut it off. Lily was just waking as well. We both hated mornings. We had stayed up a little too late with the guys in their dorm and we were both still kind of tired. Lily got in the shower as I got out my clothes, yawning a lot. Lily was out of the shower, looking a little more awake. I went in the shower and turned it on cold. I was instantly awake. I finished my shower with luke warm water. I brushed my hair and magically dried it. I pulled my long hair up into a messy bun, not really in the mood to do any more than that. I walked downstairs with my bag and flopped on the couch. I was soon woken up by a loud whistle. I jumped so violently I fell off of the couch I was on and onto the floor. I looked up angrily and saw Remus smirking.

"I hate you, you know that right?" I growled standing up.

"But without me and my amazing finger whistling ability, you would be even grouchier because of low blood sugar. We need to get to breakfast." He said.

I mumbled all the way down to breakfast all of the things that I was thinking about Remus and his "amazing finger whistling ability." I sat down next to Sirius and leaned heavily against his shoulder. I saw James eating calmly as Lily napped against his shoulder, too tired to notice or care. Remus sat next to me. Sirius shrugged his shoulder and I moaned.

"Pillows aren't supposed to move. Be a good pillow and cut it out." I grumbled. I put my head against his shoulder and Sirius chuckled.

"I am being a good boyfriend. You have to eat, love. Food equals energy." Sirius said while laughing.

I sighed and picked up a piece of toast with grape jelly on it. I ate it slowly, still leaning against Sirius. I kept drifting back and forth between asleep and awake. Sirius brought me back, though, with a simple kiss. The heat from his kisses made me wake up for a minute or so. Remus was able to help me to Arthimancy and I slept on him during this class. The class was over and I felt a little more alert but my vision was still hazy.

I felt a hand on my arm and I just followed, thinking it was Remus guiding me to DADA. The walk seemed longer than it should have been I tried to rub my eyes but I couldn't lift my free hand. There was almost like I had something in front of my eyes, making everything white and blurry. I tried to pull away from the arm but it just grew tighter.

"Remus let go. I have to rub my eyes." I grumbled.

The grip soon became vice like as I struggled. I blinked continuously and the white haze only because worse. I could barely make out figures in front of me. Then suddenly, whoever had me around the arm (I knew it wasn't Remus because he wouldn't be so rough) threw me into a room or something similar. I fell hard onto the floor and I started to rub my eyes. The white haze only turned into a black fog that made me all but blind. I stood up and listened. I closed my eyes, knowing that it was useless to even try to use them. I heard footsteps on the stone. I followed them with my increased hearing. Cloud had taught me that once one sense was impaired, all of the others were increased. I smelt some form of Axe body spray, but I was certain it wasn't Phoenix.

"Regulas." I said as a shot in the (literally) dark.

"You are perceptive." He chuckled.

I heard several other voices chuckling too. I recognized the high pitched girly squeak of Narcissa, even though I hadn'theard it in years. I also recognized the hissing laugh that belong to Malfoy.

"I see you have some old friends with you today." I said, trying to get someone else to talk so I could gage where everyone was.

"We missed you so much. We thought you could use a visit from us." I heard Malfoy say from my left.

"What do you want?" I asked, my voice even. Now I was trying to listen for anyone on the outside that could help me.

"Revenge, princess." Regulas said with a chuckle.

I heard several other familiar, and not so familiar voices. I heard seven voices total, but I only recognized five of them. I looked around wildly, trying to figure out who was the closest. I tried to find my wand in my robes but there was more laughing.

"Do you think we're stupid?" a deep male voice laughed.

I was starting to panic. I tried to feel for my magic without my wand but I was too panicked for it.

"Crucio." I heard a voice cry.

I felt the spell coming at me before it struck. I turned and it hit me full in the chest. I fell down to the floor in the shock of the spell. I held in my screams. The pain was unbearable. I felt tears in my eyes. I let them fall. I didn't have the strength to hold them back. The pain of it was growing. Then it was gone. I was curled up on the floor and I was panting. I tried again to feel for my magic but it didn't come.

"CRUCIO!" I heard three voices yell at once.

I couldn't stop myself this time. I screamed loudly in pain.

"Scream all you want, princess. This room was shown to us for this reason alone. It is soundproof. Not even your little friends will be able to find you here." Regulas said.

I barely registered this in my mind. It was too much. My head felt like it was going to implode from the pressure. My chest felt like every bone in it was being ripped out without trying to be gentle at all. My legs felt like they had broken in several places violently. The pain peaked and it drained me of all energy. I couldn't move. I couldn't scream anymore. I felt like I was separated from my body.

"Damn it! Is she dead?" Snape said.

Then the pain stopped. I was panting still. I felt a sharp kick to my back and I rolled over to face what I thought was the ceiling. I smirked up at it.

"I won't be defeated so easily. I am a Gryffindor." I said with a smirk.

I heard a roar of fury.

"We'll just try again tomorrow." Regulas said.

I heard retreating footsteps and then a door slammed. I opened my eyes and my vision was clear. I was looking up at a dark ceiling. I tried to sit up but I couldn't move. I sighed and closed my eyes again. I felt a single tear slip down my cheek and then I blacked out.

~Sirius's POV~

I sat in the back of the DADA room, waiting for Remus and Sky to show up. It felt a million years since I had last seen her, even though it had only been a very short time. I looked back and forth between Cloud, who was studying the class from his desk, and the door. People filed in but there was no Sky. Then, about thirty second before the bell rang Remus came running in the door panting. He sat down next to me. That's when I noticed that Peter was also missing.

"She's gone. She was right behind me until about two minutes ago. I tried looking for her but she was lost in the shuffle. I don't know where she is."

Remus said quickly as the bell rang. I looked at him, my face filling with shock and worry. I pulled the map out of my bag and said the password. Cloud stood up and started class. I told Remus to look like he was paying attention and take notes so I would have a cover. I opened the map and looked carefully for a dot labeled "Sky Strife." I scanned every floor carefully. Then I saw it. She was walking down a hallway on the seventh floor. But she wasn't alone. There was another dot labeled Regulas Black right next to her. I gritted my teeth and cleared the map. I looked up and saw Cloud plowing on with his lecture. I found a small piece of parchment in my bag and wrote what I had just found on it. I sent it carefully over to James and Lily. They were both as shocked and furious as I was. James raised his hand after reading the note. Cloud rolled his eyes and asked him what the problem was.

"I have to use the bathroom." James said. Cloud raised his eyebrows.

"Can't it wait?" he asked.

"No it can't." James said.

He was a great actor. Cloud sighed and let him go. Lily was able to kick the Invisibility Cloak over to me and Remus and we slipped it on. We packed up our things and brought them with us. We left through the door that James had left open. I saw Lily give us a slight smile of good luck as we rounded the corner out of sight. Remus and I got around to a place where we could safely take off the cloak. Then we walked to the bathroom and found James waiting there for us.

"Are you pulling our leg, Padfoot?" James asked.

I shook my head. I pulled out the map again and found the seventh floor. She and Regulas were nowhere to be found.

"They must be in the ROR." I said.

"What do you mean?" Remus asked.

"You said the Sky got lost in the shuffle. She was really tired and might not have realized where she was going. When I looked at the map, I saw her with Regulas on the seventh floor. He might have started to lead Sky away from you. She might have thought it was you, Remus, just leading her to DADA." I said. I couldn't keep the panic from my voice.

"Well, what are we going to do?" James asked.

"We can't get in there if she's still in there. But we can wait for them to come out." I said.

"How are we going to it?" Remus asked.

"We are going to wait by the entrance under the cloak and then attack the bugger when he comes out." I said aggressively.

"But if we fight him, he might not be alone. I think that we should do like you said and wait for them to come out, just to make sure they are in there. Then we watch the entrance and wait for them to go back in." James said. I sighed.

"That's not going to help Songbird. If she's already-"

I stopped. I couldn't face it if she was dead or dying. Saying it only made it that much more likely to be true.

"But if we just attack Regulas when he comes out, IF he comes out, he may not tell us how to get in." Remus said thinking everything over.

I sighed again. I pulled out the map and looked at the seventh floor. There were people coming out of the wall where the ROR was.

"There they are." I said.

James and Remus both looked at the map. Severus Snape, Regulas Black, Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix Black, Narcissa Black, Nott, and Lestrange were walking out of the wall together.

"There. We know what we are dealing with." I said.

"What the hell is Malfoy, Bellatrix, and Narcissa doing back? They left this place ages ago." Remus asked, very confused.

"Does it really matter? Regulas probably roped them into helping him with a revenge plot." I said, getting impatient.

"Okay, but when are they going to back in there?" Remus asked.

"Only one way to find out. We have to follow them." I said.

James sighed and then threw the cloak over all of us. We walked carefully to avoid anyone from seeing out feet. I kept an eye on the map. We were able to get right behind them and listen in on their conversation.

"I don't understand why she stopped screaming and crying." Snape said.

"That was a new reaction to see for me too, Snape." Regulas said.

"You stopped moving after she used it on you at the ball." Malfoy said.

I gritted my teeth and held in every spell that I wanted to fire at them. It would only make things worse.

"We'll just try and get the reaction we want tomorrow." Nott said.

Snape nodded and Malfoy followed suit.

"Same time then?" Regulas asked.

Snape nodded. "That fool Strife won't even notice that we're gone." he said.

Then they turned down a corner and we stopped dead. We waited until their footsteps died away to pull off the cloak.

"So we have to wait until they go in to get them." I said.

"What? You aren't going to take them all." James said.

"I will if I have to. They're hurting Sky." I growled.

"Well, all of us can't skip class." Remus said.

"Then you stay back and cover for us." I said.

"But Sky needs all of us. There are seven of them." Remus argued.

"We have to find Peter." James said. I laughed hollowly.

"He wouldn't near them with a forty meter pole." I said. James nodded to concur.

"It'll have to be the two of us, then Prongs. Don't even argue, Remus. You are the best liar next to Songbird. You need to cover for us." I said with Remus opened his mouth to argue.

Then suddenly the bell rang. Remus and I nodded to James. He understood that this was not to be discussed with Lily at all. Remus and I walked back to the place where our stuff was stashed. We walked back to the common room and found James sitting there already. Lily was sitting next to him with her hand on his knee. I couldn't help but smile. James was so happy with her around. They were just meant to be. I sat down with Remus next to me. Then the portrait opened again. Peter walked through it looking sweaty.

"Hey, Wormtail, you missed Defense." Remus said.

"Oh, did I?" he asked distractedly.

There was something very jittery about him. He was looking around nervously and jumped when Remus talked again.

"Where were you?" he asked.

There was a strange moment of silence.

"I was nowhere. I just had something to do and lost track of time." Peter said faintly.

Remus looked at Peter hard. I was confused now. Why was Remus being so incredulous of Peter after all of these years? But eventually Remus nodded and Peter walked quickly up the stairs and out of sight. Remus sighed and turned back to us.

"What's the matter, Moony?" James asked.

Remus just shook his head and James didn't press the matter. I stared at Remus in disbelief. Remus was hiding something. He might have been a cool liar to everyone else but he couldn't fool his best friends. Then Lily cleared her throat.

"Did you find Sky?" she asked. I nodded sadly.

"But there is a problem." I said.

Lily looked confused.

"She's in the ROR and no one can get in if someone is already in there without knowing the request they made to get in." James said when I didn't pick up.

Lily looked devastated. "Why aren't you going after her?" she asked in a harsh whisper as some third years came into the common room.

"Because we are going to wait until the door is opened." Remus said.

Lily nodded, expecting to hear more. When we said nothing, she started to talk about the stuff we missed in the end of class. I was only half listening. I was trying to figure out how I was going to save Sky…


	21. Open the Door

~Sky's POV~

I woke up some time later to a splitting headache. I tried to move but it felt like I was glued to the floor. I couldn't turn my head from its awkward position. My legs were bent under me and were numb. I knew my heart was going a million miles a minute but I knew no one was there. I was very cold. I was lying on stone and I felt myself shiver. I thought about how I got into this and cursed myself for being so trusting and stupid.

I felt angry tears burn in my eyes. I was angry with myself for letting myself get into this mess. I was furious with Regulas and his gang for doing this to me. I was angry, most of all, with my own stubborn streak and pride. I knew that the reason that I was still here was that I was strong and they wanted to break me. But my own stubborn pride kept me from breaking. I knew I had to give in soon because those little slime balls would start going after my friends and Sirius.

The tears in my eyes grew even harder to hold back as I thought of him. He must be going crazy. I closed my eyes. I felt so bad for him. It was my fault that he was being tortured like I was except worse. I knew he was safe. I knew that he was in no physical danger. But he, on the other side of it, knew nothing about my welfare. He didn't know if I was alive, dead or worse. I was causing him so much pain. He was probably pacing the floors, worrying about me. I felt a tear slide down my cheek.

"Sirius." I whispered into the black.

My heart hurt at the thought of Sirius acting like a caged animal. It tore at my soul to think about causing him pain. I felt something run through me. It was like warmth that spread to every part of me. I remembered his kisses and was soothed from my internal pain. I remembered the touch of his skin against mine. I remembered the way he smiled at me. I smiled at the memory. Then I knew what that warmth was. It was love. I loved Sirius. I knew it. He was the only one for me. That small comfort filled my insides like a bubble that not even the sudden slamming of the door could pop. I heard hurried footsteps and then the door slammed again. Then I heard much whispering.

"Your little boyfriend is smarter than we thought." Snape's cold voice said.

I opened my eyes and looked straight into his black ones.

"Your mistake." I said in a voice barely above a whisper.

Bellatrix growled and made a large slashing movement through the air with her wand. It felt like I was slapped in the face. I felt something hot run down my cheek.

"So you're going to slash my cheek for the cheek I gave Snivellus. That's mature." I said under my breath.

"You are in no position to be smart with us." Lestrange said in a growl.

"Thanks for the kind observation. But to be quite frank, I am no position to be doing ANYTHING really." I said.

Lestrange growled in his throat and made the same slashing motion as Bellatrix and I felt a sharp pain in my stomach. I looked down and there was a thin but deep cut in my stomach. It was starting to bleed a lot.

"Lovely." I said in a faint voice.

"Are you ready to feel more pain than any you've ever felt before, Strife?" Malfoy asked, tapping his wand against his open palm menacingly. It shot out little red sparks that added to the entire effect.

"Oh goodie." I said sarcastically, my words dripping with venom.

"Crucio." He whispered with a glare.

I was lifted clear off of the ground as the spell hit me. I held in my scream. I felt my small bubble of happiness slipping from me. I held onto it for dear life. I loved him and he loved me. That was true. I kept repeating it in my head as I screwed my eyes shut and gritted my teeth against the pain. Then it stopped and I fell face down onto the floor. I was panting but I held onto small bit of happy truth. I looked around and all of the faces were confused. They all were wondering why I wasn't screaming and writhing in pain.

"Crucio." Bellatrix's voice came in an icy tone.

I felt the pain again but I held onto my love for Sirius. I knew it was my anchor to sanity. It was my one way to survive this Hell. Even though I felt the fire that was set upon my skull, I knew that it was merely just something that didn't matter. It was as insignificant as the ants in the Dark Forest. The pain stopped again and there was a roar of rage.

"She isn't even trying to fight back. It's like we aren't doing anything to her at all." Nott raged.

He sent the curse at me again with greater intensity. I gritted my teeth but kept repeating the same words in my head: I love Sirius. I love him with everything I am. I felt the pain increase even more. I held onto my own truth in life. I mouthed it to myself, knowing that everyone could see me.

"I love Sirius with everything I am." I kept mouthing.

I was squeezing my eyes shut in the pain. I curled into a ball and held my knees to my forehead.

"I love Sirius Black with everything I am." I mouthed over and over again.

The pain crashed over me in waves. Tears were streaming down my cheeks. I felt a sharp pain across my back and I rolled onto my side. I gasped in pain but kept mouthing the truth to myself. I felt another wave of pain crash over me on top of the excruciating pain of the Cruciatus Curse. I started to whisper the same words to myself. I heard them echo across the walls, bouncing back and forth. My words mixed together and became incoherent. Then the pain stopped. I my vision was going between black and fuzzy before me.

"What is she saying?" Regulas's voice came clearly.

"I love Sirius Draco Black with everything I am." I said a little louder.

Then I closed my eyes and blacked out.

~Sirius's POV~

I waited anxiously for James outside of the DADA room. I was hidden carefully behind a large statue. It was shadowed enough to give me proper cover but was still small enough to give me proper room to fit behind to hide. I watched as Lily and Remus walked into the room together. Then, several minutes later, Peter walked in. He was looking around nervously. The bell rang and there was still no James. I sighed silently and then I felt someone tap my shoulder. I looked back and saw the hazel eye of my best friend peeking out from the nothingness. I smiled at him and got under the cloak as well.

We walked quickly and quietly up to the seventh floor. We watched as Regulas paced the stretch of wall three times, his face pulled tight in thought. Snape, Malfoy, Bellatrix, Narcissa, Nott, and Lestrange stood and watched. Snape looked right at us and stared for at least two seconds too long. I froze and I felt James stiffen.

"Regulas, hurry." Snape said, looking at my weasel of a little brother.

Then suddenly, a plain black door appeared and they all disappeared behind it. As soon as they did, it disappeared. I ran to the wall and started to pace.

"I need a place to torture Sky Strife." I thought as I practically ran back and forth across the area.

I looked at the wall but it remained blank. I tried again.

"I need a place to kill Sky Strife." I thought.

I looked at the wall and it remained almost mockingly blank. I sighed heavily in agitation. I tried all sorts of combinations to get in the room but it remained blank. Then I felt James pull me back under the cloak. The door appeared again. James and I held our breaths. All of the little scumbags walked out of the room looking thoroughly irritated. James held my wand arm as he withdrew his own. As soon as the door was shut he breathed a single curse. Seven thin ropes flew from his wand and curled spring-like around the scum. I watched them struggle with a smug satisfaction.

"RELEASE US!" Snape yelled at the top of his voice.

James and I stepped out from the cloak and into the open of the hall.

"You!" Narcissa breathed in pure loathing.

"Yes, me." I said, thoroughly resisting every urge I had to kill them on the spot. That wouldn't help matters.

"You've got one shot. After that, we won't hesitate to hurt you." I said, raising my wand and pointing it at my little brother's head.

"How did you get into that room?" I asked slowly and clearly nodding to the blank stretch of wall.

"Walk passed it three times, thinking about what you want." Regulas said.

His voice shook ever so slightly. He was strong himself, but he was nothing like James and I.

"No shit. What did you want that room to do?" I asked in a dangerous tone.

Regulas kept his mouth shut. I turned to the rest. I saw Snape working the wand out of his pocket slowly as he squirmed.

"Expelliarmus." I said and I caught Snape's wand in my free hand.

"One more time, what did you want that room to become?" I asked my little brother firmly.

He looked me dead in the eyes. I knew he wasn't going to say anything. He knew he held the power in the situation, even if he was tied up. Without him telling me exactly what he wanted the Room of Requirement to become, there was no way I was getting in, and he knew that. I raised my wand to curse him, but a voice stopped me.

"What do you boys think you are doing?" the soft voice asked from behind us.

I whipped around and I saw Professor Dumbledore striding towards us.

"Professor, these…"

I paused, unable to think of a word bad enough to call them without getting into trouble myself,

"…Slytherins were in this room. I know how to get into it but there is something that is preventing me from getting what needs to be retrieved out of the room. I said, trying to avoid sticky questions.

"What is in this room, Mr. Black?" Dumbledore asked.

There was a grave note in his voice and his eyes seemed to look through me rather than at me.

"Sky Strife, sir. He," I pointed my wand which shot out satisfying green sparks at the motion, at my brother "led her into the room and she hasn't come out in two days." I said.

Dumbledore looked at me carefully. I tried to look as innocent as possible.

"Are you being serious with me?" Dumbledore asked seriously.

"I wouldn't lie about something like this." I said.

James nodded next to me. Dumbledore looked over my shoulder at the group bound and wriggling on the floor.

"What are they doing like that?" he asked.

I caught the slightest twinkle in his electric blue eyes.

"I thought it was best so no one would get seriously hurt, sir." James said innocently.

Dumbledore nodded at him. He walked around us and looked down at the group.

"Who knows how to get in?" Dumbledore asked seriously.

There was a moment of thick silence. I was almost about to press Dumbledore into forcing them into confessing by whatever means necessary when Regulas finally cracked.

"I do, sir. I was the one who got them in." Regulas growled.

I felt my chest swell in triumph. There was no way he could get around it now. He would get in trouble for lying to the headmaster or he would get in more trouble for what he put Sky in there for.

"How do you get in this room?" Dumbledore asked, looking down at Regulas with his piercing gaze.

"You have to pace in front of the wall three times, thinking for a room that you could torture someone in but no one find it after you left." Regulas said in a low voice.

Dumbledore's eyebrows shot up and I started to pace.

"I need a room to torture someone in and not be found in." I thought as I paced.

To my relief, the plain black door appeared. I pulled it open with ease and looked inside. What I saw scared me to immobility.


	22. In Limbo

(Still Sirius's POV)

Sky was lying on the floor of the black room. She was in a pool of liquid. I lit the tip of my wand and walked into the room. James followed me and Dumbledore came after him. I walked over to Sky. I knelt down next to her. My pants instantly started to soak up the liquid. I looked at it again and it was blood. I felt tears in my eyes and I looked her over. There was a deep but short cut on her cheek. There was a longer but still equally deep cut across her stomach. I pushed some of her red hair out of her face. It was pale. I looked her over again. I put my ear to her mouth and heard a small bit of breathing. I felt for a pulse and it was very slow. I looked at James and handed him my wand. I picked her up gently under her knees and under her shoulders. She shuttered as my hands swept across the skin on her back. She winced as I picked her up. I didn't even want to look at her back. I could feel the bleeding on my arms through my sleeves.

"Let's bring her to the hospital wing, Mr. Black." Dumbledore said as he looked over Sky's body.

I nodded and he led the way out of the room. We raced down to the hospital wing. Unfortunately, the bell rang as we reached the next floor. Students were starting to exit the classrooms. I held Sky close as I followed Dumbledore down to the hospital wing. I saw people stop and whisper as I passed by. I knew what they were saying. But I didn't want to think about it. I knew that she was alive. I just knew it. Dumbledore walked into the hospital wing, slamming the doors open as he did so. Madame Pomfrey was making the beds again and she jumped violently as we entered.

"Poppy, we have a student in desperate need of care." Dumbledore said.

Pomfrey exclaimed sharply as she saw Sky. She motioned violently to a bed near me and I set her down. The sheets started to turn scarlet beneath Sky. I wouldn't let go of Sky's hand. Pomfrey tried several spells to heal the wound on her cheek but it wouldn't clot or stop bleeding.

"It won't stop." She whispered.

I looked at her urgently. "What do you mean it won't stop?" I asked hysterically.

"We have to take her to St. Mungo's." Pomfrey said.

Dumbledore nodded. Then suddenly, Cloud came storming into the room followed by James, Lily, and Remus who were dragging the Slytherins behind them. They were all gagged so I assumed that they had said some mean things already.

"Cloud, she needs to be taken to St. Mungo's." Dumbledore said urgently to Cloud.

He looked on the verge of a meltdown. "What happened to her?" he asked, looking at me and then to Sky again.

"Ask them. They are the ones that did this to her." James said, kicking Snape for good measure.

"We need to get her urgent attention by the healers." Pomfrey said.

I went to lift her again but Cloud beat me to it. He lifted her with ease and carried her like a baby. I noticed just then how small she was in comparison to her brother. I tried to follow after Pomfrey and Cloud but Dumbledore stopped me.

"Stay here, Sirius." He said in a small voice.

I looked at the headmaster with my infuriation written clearly on my face.

"Just wait." He said.

I sat down on the bed that Sky had just been in. I knew that I didn't look my best, for a lack of better terms. I looked down at my hands that were covered in Sky's blood. I didn't even want to look at the rest of me.

"What did you use on her?" I heard Dumbledore saying to the Slytherins at his feet.

They were all silent. I looked at them. I looked at their faces. The only one that was looking back and forth between me and Dumbledore was Regulas.

"We are glad that she is suffering." Malfoy spat at Dumbledore.

"You can avoid expulsion and possible imprisonment if you tell me willingly what spells you used on Miss. Strife." Dumbledore said patiently.

Then suddenly, Slughorn burst into the room. He was wheezing slightly.

"What is the meaning of this?" he puffed.

"Students from your house have caused another one of the other students to be sent to St. Mungo's." Dumbledore said.

I could tell there was a hint of ice in his voice. I was still looking at Regulas with a glare on my face. He was studying me. He looked like he was about to break. Slughorn raised his voice to Dumbledore and was almost shouting at him.

"Horace, I need you to get these pupils to tell me what curse or curses were used on Sky Strife." Dumbledore said in a voice I never heard him use before. It was stern but barely above a whisper. It was scary.

Finally, Regulas tore his eyes from mine and looked up at Dumbledore.

"We used the Cruciatus Curse on her. We all did. Snape and Bellatrix used a Whipping Curse on her as well. They made it so the wounds wouldn't heal except with the counter curse." Regulas said loudly before Slughorn could retort.

Dumbledore looked down at Regulas. There was something different in his expression now.

"YOU FILTHY TRAITOR!" Bellatrix screamed at the top of her voice.

She writhed violently against her binds but Lily held her back, though I could tell it against her will and more to live up to the Head Girl status she had.

"Thank you, Mr. Black." Dumbledore said quietly.

"I am assigning the two of you still at school a suspension from every team, club, and out of classroom activity you are in. You will return to your common room at every break you have. You are not allowed to attend any Quidditch matches at all this year. You are not allowed out your dormitories after dinner. And you will serve nightly detention with me for the rest of the school year. As for the rest of you, I will be reporting this incident to the Ministry and they can decide what to do with you." Dumbledore said very sternly.

The Slytherins were glaring at Regulas but nodded stiffly. Dumbledore started to move out the ward and I jumped up. I called out and Dumbledore looked back at me.

"When can we go to see her?" I asked.

"I will send word as soon as they allow her to have visitors." Dumbledore said with a last smile.

He swept from the ward and disappeared around a corner.

The rest of the day was a blur. I didn't even bother to clean myself up as I went about my day. I was nervously waiting for an owl or something saying that I could see Sky. I didn't want to know how she was, I NEEDED to know. It was like a drug that I was so addicted to that it hurt to be without it. She had such a strong hold on me and I never realized it until now. Lily was almost as bad as I was. She would jump so violently at the slightest loud noise that she would break something if it could be broken and she was holding it. We got chased out of the library when she broke an ink bottle over a book. James had dropped yet another book and Lily had jumped. His hands were shaking so much; he was likely to drop whatever he was holding. Remus was exceptionally pale all day. He went to the bathroom several times and he came back looking a bit green. Peter, meanwhile, was nowhere to be found. He wasn't in any of the classes we shared with him. He wasn't in the dorm room on breaks. I hadn't seen him at all that day until dinner. He looked really peaky. I thought that he might have gotten attacked by the way he was so jittery. He could barely eat because he was shaking so badly. The food would fall right off of his fork.

About halfway through a meal that was barely eaten, a loud owl's scream rang through the hall. I looked up and Star came soaring through the hall. Lily was getting back up on her bench. She had jumped so badly that she fell. James was mopping up the mess on the table from the goblet of pumpkin juice that he spilled when Star screamed. He landed right in front of me and stuck out his leg. There was a piece of parchment tied there. I took it off with shaking hands and unrolled it. Star nipped my finger hard and it was bleeding slightly. I knew he was trying to be affectionate but Star was just a bit too rough for that. The letter was from Cloud. His hand writing was very shaky and hard to read. It looked like he had dictated it and the quill was writing what he spoke.

S-Sirius,

Sk-Sky is doing fine. Sh-sh-she is resting r-right now. The healers fixed her up all all right. Y-You and and the rest c-can see her tomorrow.

Cloud


	23. Reunited

(STILL STILL Sirius's POV)

I looked up at everyone after reading the letter a few more times through to make sense of it all.

"She's okay. Cloud says that the healers were able to fix her." I said happily.

Lily visibly relaxed. James breathed out heavily, as if he was holding his breath. Remus smiled broadly and I was too. Peter let out a shaky laugh.

"She's okay, Wormtail. There's no reason to be so gloomy." James said happily.

He said it so loudly that people up and down the table asked who was okay. The news spread as soon as James told them the Sky was going to be fine after her torture. I looked back at the letter. I could go and see her tomorrow. I couldn't wait. I was floating on air until I went to bed. People all around me were happy as well. Sky was such a nice person that everyone was happy to hear that she was going be okay. There was a large roll of purple parchment that was being passed around the common room that night. I got it last. Everyone in Gryffindor house had signed it with their well-wishes. There was a moving title at the top saying "GET WELL SOON!" I smiled and signed my name at the bottom. I knew that she was going to love this. I took it and carefully rolled it up. It was really late before I actually got up to bed. People kept asking me when Sky was coming back. I told everyone the same thing: I would find out tomorrow. When I did get to bed, I just stared at the top of my canopy with a large smile on my face.

"She's going to be okay." I breathed to myself after a very long time.

The hangings were drawn around my bed and I hoped no one would hear my vocalization of my own relief. Then I felt something strange on my face. I reached up and wiped away the wetness. I was crying out of joy and pure relief that my Songbird was going to live.

~NOW it's Sky's POV~

I woke up to feel something warm under my back. I opened my eyes slowly and looked at a white ceiling. The entire room was filled with light. I had to close my eyes quickly because of the change in brightness so suddenly. I opened my eyes again slowly and looked around me. Cloud was sleeping soundly in a chair next to my bed. I looked around and saw that Dumbledore was awake and standing near the door. I smiled at him and tried to sit up. He motioned silently for me to stay still.

"You gave us quite the scare, Miss. Strife." Dumbledore said softly with a smile on his face.

"I keep telling you people, I'm strong. I'll always pull through." I said with a smile of my own.

Dumbledore chuckled and then someone walked into the ward. It was a healer. He was looking at a clipboard.

"GOOD LORD!" he exclaimed.

He jumped and his glasses that were balanced so carefully on his long nose went all crooked. I laughed and looked at Cloud. He was stirring in his chair.

"Well, glad to see that you are awake." The healer said.

Cloud was awake now and was looking at me in disbelief. He jumped onto me in a big hug. I laughed and hugged him back.

"I knew you'd pull through." Cloud said in the founder's language.

"Why then do you seem so surprised?" I asked back, barely audible.

"Okay, Mr. Strife, let me take a look at those wounds." The healer said.

Cloud pulled away from me slowly with a big smile on his face. It was such a nice change. He held me hand tightly as I slowly and painfully sat up. The healer took off the bandages on my stomach. There was still a little bit of a blood oozing from the wound but it was very slow.

"Much better than yesterday." The healer said.

He pulled out his wand and started to mutter under his breath. The wound was magically sealing itself back together. It was like the healing process was going in fast forward before my eyes. Soon, there was only a scratch that looked a couple days old on my stomach. I felt my cheek and there was only a thin scar on it.

"We weren't able to prevent the scar, as much as we tried." The healer said sadly.

I shrugged. "Another war wound." I said causally.

I heard a chuckle out of Cloud and Dumbledore laughed. The healer smiled and undid the back of my nightgown. I held it on and let the healer work. I felt him peel off the bandages on my back.

"Well, these ones will definitely scar." The healer said.

I felt more warmth spread over my back as the healer did his work. He put more bandages on my back but it was a few less than what he pulled off.

"The three deepest ones will take another day or two to heal. After that, you are free to go." The healer said.

I nodded and sat back into my pillows. It felt good to lie down again. I sighed in contentment. Then my stomach growled. I giggled nervously as I looked at the healer.

"I'll send some food up for you then." The healer said.

He walked over to the door after I thanked him. He looked at his clipboard and pulled out a quill. Then a little blond witch came bustling into the room. She whispered something to the healer. He nodded and the little witch left.

"You have some visitors in the waiting room. Do you wish to see them?" he asked.

I nodded eagerly, unable to wait much longer to see Sirius. It confused me why he wasn't here at my side but I hoped that it was him that was here to see me. The healer smiled and walked out of the room. There was silence.

"But how long have I been out?" I asked.

"About a day." Cloud said.

"Not too bad then. Better than a week." I shrugged. Cloud smiled at me.

Dumbledore sighed. "After your visitors leave, I need to ask you a couple of questions." He said.

I nodded slowly, my smile sliding off my face like water. I knew what he wanted to know. He wanted to know what happened with me and those guys. Then the door opened again and I saw a brilliant flash of red hair in front of my face. I felt the wind get knocked out of me as Lily hugged me tightly. As soon as I could breathe again, I laughed and hugged her back. She pulled away from me and looked me over with a huge smile on her face.

"I'm so glad you're okay." She said a little breathlessly.

"Why is this shocking to you? You know me, I'm always okay." I said with a laugh.

I looked behind her and saw a very pale Remus, a beaming James, a happy but nervous Peter, and an extremely relieved Sirius. He was smiling brightly at me.

"We've been really nervous. James dropped things like mad. Lily got us kicked out of library for breaking an ink bottle full of ink on a book after James dropped something. Peter has been so high strung it isn't even funny." Remus said faintly.

"And the entire Gryffindor house made this for you." James said.

He pulled a purple roll of parchment from Sirius's hands and gave it to me. I unrolled it and there was signature after signature on the paper. It was over four feet long. The Marauders had signed their aliases on the bottom after everyone else. Remus had signed his name as "Moony" within a circle that was silver like the moon. Peter had his name signed as "Wormtail" with the "l" dragging off with a moving rat's tail. "Prongs" was written among an intricately drawn set of antlers. Lily had drawn a tiger lily with five petals. She had written one letter of her nickname "Tiger" on each petal with the little dots. But Sirius had done the best job. His alias had been written in block letters and, on of each letter, there was a paw print. The hole in the "a" and in both of the "O"'s were paw prints. They were great. I smiled up at the gang.

"I'll have to thank everyone when I get back." I said with a very happy smile.

Cloud stood up. "I'm going to go see what's taking so long with your lunch." He said formally.

He walked swiftly from the room. Dumbledore winked at me discreetly and then walked out of the room as well.

"Hey, Moony, do you want a cup of tea? You're looking awfully pale." Lily said, taking him by the arm.

"I could do with one. Let me come with you guys." Peter said.

They both took Remus from the room. James smiled and left the room after them, leaving Sirius and I alone together. I smiled at him. He smiled back and was hugging me tightly, quick as a flash.

"I thought I lost you, Songbird." He whispered into my hair.

"I thought I would never see you again." I said quietly, hugging him back.

I inhaled and smelt the clean scent of pine woods after the rain.

"You were bleeding so badly. I had your blood all over me." Sirius said.

I felt tears welling up in my eyes.

"I couldn't even think about anything else for the last 24 hours. I was so worried." Sirius rambled.

I smiled at his words and the tears slipped from my eyes. He pulled back from me and sat on the edge of the bed. He cupped my face in his hands. I smiled as tears of joy fell down my cheeks. He wiped them away tenderly with his thumbs.

"I thought I was never going to see you again. I kept remembering everything we've done together and it gave me strength." I whispered and he smiled at me.

I sat up slowly. He sat back and I looked at him dead in the eyes.

"I realized something, Sirius, when I was in there by myself. I realized that I loved you with everything that is in me. I love you with everything that I have to give. Sirius, I love you more than I love myself." I said.

He looked in awe of this confession.

"Sirius, I know that it sounds crazy to say such things at sixteen and seventeen, but it's true. I love you with my whole heart." I said.

Sirius smiled and leaned in. I met him halfway in a warm kiss. There was a sense of fire the spread through my every fiber and then there was an immediate rush. It felt like gushing water. I reached up carefully and put my arms around his neck. It didn't last very long, but it was very passionate.

"I don't think you're crazy, Sky. I think that you just voiced what I've been feeling for the last seven years. I've always felt this sense in me. There was just something about you that I couldn't get out of my head, no matter what I did or who I was with. You were always right there. Now I know that that sense of longing for closeness is and what it means now to understand someone I understand myself. Every time I'm around I get this….I get this-"

"Upside down, turn around, loopdi loop, gaga, over the moon, winning the world cup kind of feeling?" I finished.

Sirius laughed his amazing laugh and nodded. "That's exactly what I mean. You are the only person that knows who I am and how I function. You are the only person who knows me for me. I love you, Sky, and I always have. And I always will." Sirius said.

He put his forehead to mine and looked deep into my eyes. "I know you do, Padfoot. I love you too." I whispered.

Sirius smiled and kissed me again. I felt the fire again in my stomach and the rushing through my body as his arms wrapped around my waist. I smiled into the kiss. It felt so right to have Sirius here. It felt like it was the right thing to do, being here in his arms, kissing him. And I knew why now. I knew why this felt right and why it had been like that for the last two years we dated. It was because Sirius was my soul mate and the only person that could ever make me feel whole and completely loved all the time. We broke away and I was still smiling. He was smiling too. I moved down the bed carefully and I patted the spot right behind me. He rolled his eyes and fixed the pillows. Then he sat against the wall for me to sit in his lap and lean against him. I put my head against his chest and he put his chin on the top of my head.

"I love you, Sirius." I whispered.

"I love you too, Sky." Sirius whispered back.

I yawned widely and Sirius chuckled. It was soothing to hear in his chest. It was deep and started to lull me to sleep again. I put my ear to his chest and listened to his steady heartbeat. Faster than I ever thought possible, I was asleep again. But this time, I was smiling and Sirius had his arms wrapped tightly around my body. I knew he was going to keep me safe from anything and everything.


	24. Enjoy the Moment

~Sirius's POV~

I watched Sky as her breathing slowed and became even. She relaxed in my arms and I knew she was asleep. She was still smiling. I smiled to myself. Then the door opened. Cloud came in carrying a tray of food. He looked at where Sky was and where I was.

"She's asleep." I whispered, playing with the end of her long hair.

Cloud nodded and set down the food on the side table. He sat down in his chair and looked at me seriously.

"She was calling for you." He said.

I looked at him confused.

"Well, it wasn't exactly "calling for you" I guess. She just kept repeating the same sentence over and over again: "I love Sirius Draco Black with everything I am"." Cloud said.

I looked at Cloud then at the top of Sky's head. They were so different in personality and appearance, it was scary. The only thing that linked them was their brilliant blue eyes. They shared the same shockingly blue eyes.

"She really does love you, Sirius. I could tell. Don't let her fall." Cloud said.

"I won't. I never will." I said. I was still playing with Sky's hair ever so gently.

"If you hurt my little sister by leading her on, then so help me God-"

"I want to ask her to be my wife." I said, cutting through Cloud.

He was shocked speechless.

"I want to ask her to marry me. Not now but after we finish school. I don't ever want to lose her. This experience right here proves how short life can be. I want to know that she will be mine forever. I love her like she loves me." I said with a smile.

"Have you told her this?" Cloud asked after another moment of silence.

I nodded. "We told each other how we really felt when you were gone. She said that she loved me with everything that she had. I told her that I had been feeling like that for the last seven years." I said.

I smiled and kissed the top of her head lightly. She stirred ever so slightly but then went back to sleep.

"Are you sure about this?" Cloud asked seriously.

I nodded. We looked into each other's eyes for a long moment.

"You better be, Black. If she gets hurt because of you, you will seriously regret it." Cloud said in a low voice.

"I would never hurt her in a million years." I said right after him.

Then Remus, Lily, Peter, and James walked through the door again laughing. They saw that Sky was sleeping and quieted at once.

"We've got to head back to school, Padfoot." Remus said to me, pointing at his watch.

I sighed and looked down at the top of Sky's head. I didn't want to disturb her.

"Mr. Black can stay tonight with her. But Cloud really should escort these students back to school. You can come back after but they need to be taken back." Dumbledore said from the doorway. Cloud nodded and stood up.

"Tell her that we said goodbye." James said with a wink.

I nodded and smiled at them. My five best friends walked out of the room with Cloud taking up the rear and herding them down the hall.

"Thank you sir." I said to Dumbledore.

"I see what you and Miss. Strife share. Don't ever lose that bond. It is the strongest thing you can have." Dumbledore said, sitting on the vacant bed next to Sky's.

"Why do you say that, sir?" I asked.

Dumbledore sighed. "I wouldn't ask this of someone so young but you are so talented. I have already spoken to Mr. Potter and he has given me his answer." Dumbledore said, almost ignoring me.

"What is it Professor?" I asked, getting concerned now.

"What happened to Sky was just the start. There is a man that goes by the name of Lord Voldemort is on the rise and he is gathering followers. He wants all of the muggles, muggle borns, and blood traitors killed. To put it simply, he wants a world full of people like your family." Dumbledore said.

"And what does that have to do with me?" I asked slowly, not really putting two and two together.

"I am gathering my own forces. I am contacting people that are willing to fight off this force that threatens our world." Dumbledore said.

I looked at him sharply. "What would that entail?" I asked skeptically.

"It would just mean taking care of those who want to do harm to others. And not like anti-muggle pranksters but people are killing muggles. It would be our job to find, capture, and imprison those who support Voldemort. My sources say that they call themselves the Death Eaters and they bear the Dark Mark. They are dangerous. I had a feeling that Malfoy and Lestrange would be part of Voldemort's league, but I see that there are more within the walls of our own school than I thought." Dumbledore explained.

"You mean that I get to hunt down people like Malfoy and his band of cretins for a living?" I asked excitedly.

"This isn't like being an Auror. You will not get paid for this. This is entirely voluntary." Dumbledore said, holding up a hand.

I looked down at the top of Sky's head in thought. I remembered what had been happening all this year. Then a thought struck me. Pete had mentioned a force on the rise earlier this year. And if I knew any band of blood traitors than mine, then I would be surprised. Lily was a muggle born. James, Sky, Remus, and myself were all purebloods but we didn't have that attitude like my brother and that band of scum had. I remembered what they did to Sky. Could it have been because she was just a blood traitor? But I knew one thing. I didn't want other people to suffer like I did. At least I was just in time to save her life. I knew that I couldn't have been able to bear it to lose her. I don't want other people to lose their loved ones like I almost did.

"You don't have to answer now-"

"I'll do it. I want to make sure that an incident like the one Sky was put through never happen again." I said with a firm tone.

My eyes were looking right into his bright blue ones and my jaw was firmly set. Dumbledore sighed and smiled.

"Welcome to the Order of the Phoenix, Mr. Black." He said with a sad smile.

"Did James join?" I asked.

Dumbledore nodded. "As did Miss. Evans, Mr. Lupin and Mr. Pettigrew." He continued.

I nodded. "Sky will join in a heartbeat. I know she will." I said with a sigh.

I pulled her a little closer to me.

"Well, this is a secret society. No one is to know that there is a resistance, least of all that group of boys that just narrowly avoided being arrested." Dumbledore said in a soft voice.

I nodded shortly and sat back into the pillows.

"I will contact you when there is something you can do." Dumbledore said standing up.

I nodded and yawned.

"Get some sleep, Mr. Black. Enjoy this moment of triumph." Dumbledore said, walking to the door.

I nodded and pulled Sky a little closer to me. I rested me cheek against the top of her hair and smiled to myself. I knew that this choice was one of the best I had made in a long time. I fell asleep with thoughts of this choice and of the woman in my arms.


	25. The End  For Now

~Sky's POV~

I woke up with someone shaking my shoulder. I opened my eyes and it was bright again. Cloud was standing over me.

"The doctors need to change the bandages." He said softly.

I tried to sit up, but I felt a weight on the top of my head and around my waist. I looked behind me and Sirius was sleeping peacefully. I slipped carefully out from under his arms and moved forward on the bed.

"Can we keep this quiet please? I don't want to wake him." I whispered to the doctor.

He nodded and smiled at me. Cloud carefully undid the back of my hospital gown and I held it on in the front. The doctor peeled back the bandages slowly.

"Thank God they stopped bleeding." He whispered.

I smiled to myself. I was glad that they were almost healed. I wanted to go back home. The doctor muttered a couple of spells under his breath and I felt warmth spreading across my back.

"They're healed enough for you to leave, Miss. Strife." The doctor said.

Then he turned to Cloud and started talking about legal things like release papers. I did up the knot in the back of my gown and turned back to Sirius. I smiled at his peaceful and angelic face. I loved him so much. Then I heard someone clear their throat from the doorway. I turned sharply and saw Dumbledore standing there with a small drawstring pouch in his hands. He winked at me and nodded to Cloud and the healer. They both nodded back and left the room quickly.

"I'm glad to see that you are awake, Sky. It was quite frightening, those injuries of yours." Dumbledore said, sitting on the bed next to mine.

I nodded.

"Now, I have something I want to ask of you. I want you to think before you answer, not just give an answer. This is something I would only ask the best and the brightest to do. And barely legal adults would be my last choice in normal circumstances, but I have seen you do wonders." Dumbledore said slowly and softly, almost choosing his words carefully.

I nodded but looked at him with mild curiosity.

"I have already gotten permission from your brother, though he himself does not want to." Dumbledore went on.

"What is that you want from me?" I asked, half laughing.

"I have an offer for you. But to understand the seriousness of the situation, I must explain some things. You see, there was a student at this school, maybe 20 years ago. His name was Tom Riddle. Does this name strike you in any way?" Dumbledore asked.

I thought about it and the name did stir something. I tried to think back very hard and then it struck me. My last detention of last year was spent polishing trophies. Tom Riddle had gotten an award for special services to the school.

"Yes it does. I recognize the name from my last detention. I polished his award for special services to the school. But why is that a serious matter?" I said, still half laughing.

"Tom Marvolo Riddle was one of the brightest students to ever pass through Hogwarts. But his brilliance has turned to evil and malice. He is planning an uprising. He wants to have a pureblood society with only people of the purest decent like Sirius's family." Dumbledore said.

"But why is that bad? I am a pureblood, James is a pureblood. What should we have to worry about?" I asked, now confused.

"But this is where the evil comes in, Sky. He wants to eliminate all of those who are undesirable. These would include all of the Muggleborns, half bloods, muggles themselves, and those purebloods who are not with him." Dumbledore said, still choosing his words cautiously.

"You mean blood traitors." I muttered, recalling the incident on the train here.

"Yes, blood traitors. He wants a wizard world and only a wizard world. And he will stop at nothing to get it." Dumbledore said.

"But how can he? He is but one person." I whispered, starting to realize the terror that would ensue if he was able to.

"Of course he cannot. Any sane person would realize that he cannot on his own. But he has followers. They call themselves the Death Eaters. The all bare the Dark Mark, a skull with a snake for a tongue." Dumbledore said.

"How appropriate." I muttered sarcastically.

"You know some of them already. Lucius Malfoy, Ruphodolus Lestrange, and Belatrix Black are just a few that have proudly displayed their allegiance. I suspect that Regulus Black, Severus Snape, and Narcissa Black are also involved. Maybe even Mr. Knott." Dumbledore said.

I looked at him with shocked eyes but a smooth face. "And what do Death Eaters do exactly?" I asked in a hoarse whisper.

"They do the bidding of Tom or more commonly Lord Voldemort. This can range from inflicting panic upon innocent muggles, to recruiting other followers, to torturing and killing those who are undesirable." Dumbledore said.

My horror showed on my face and it brought tears to my eyes. "Do you think that this attack on me was more than just because my friends and I pull pranks on them?" I asked, my voice cracking.

"I'm afraid so. I have heard from different teachers that have overheard them planning. You are one of the first of those whom they attacked. It was practice for them. James would have been next and then Sirius and then Remus and then finally Lily, if they had succeeded in torturing you and leaving you to die slowly. This was their first assignment and Voldemort is not happy." Dumbledore said.

I realized then how serious this was. Once we graduated, there was not going to be a Marauder's Map to help find missing people. There wasn't going to be a Dumbledore to punish them. Once those monsters got out into the real world, chaos would begin. This had to be stopped and fast.

"What is being done about this? Surely something is being done to stop those who aren't inside the castle walls?" I asked, almost about to cry.

"Yes there is. There is a society called the Order of the Phoenix I created to match the Death Eaters. We are going to try and stop them from taking control of life as we know it. Which brings me to my purpose. I only told you these things, not to scare you, but to ask you to join the resistance." Dumbledore said.

I was about to answer right away but I stopped. This would be a dangerous job, even more dangerous than being an Auror. I would be facing death practically every time I encountered Death Eaters because I knew that I wouldn't be in it for a draw. I knew that they had to be stopped one way or another. And their minds were probably the same way. It was either kill or be killed. But I couldn't imagine the amount of pain that families would have to go through if they lost family members just for what their blood was. I sighed and looked at my lap. I closed my eyes. I had my choice.

"I will join the Order of the Phoenix, Professor. I want to fight against Voldemort and his band of monsters." I said firmly.

"I knew you would." Dumbledore said, patting my leg.

I looked back at Sirius. I would hate to see him hurt if I died, but I knew it was the right choice.

"Oh, don't worry about Sirius, Sky. He already joined last night while you slept. Your other friends have also agreed to join." Dumbledore laughed.

I smiled and nodded.

"Lily left some clothes for you to change into as well. You can go back to school if you wish." Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his blue eyes.

I nodded eagerly.

"I'll let you change then." Dumbledore said and then he swept from the room.

I sighed and then carefully slid from the bed, trying not wake Sirius. My feet touched the floor and I stood up. I felt decent, just a bit sore from sitting for too long. I tip toed over to the pile of clothes that was sitting next to the tray of still warm food. I slipped into the little WC attached to the room and closed the door. I carefully undid the hospital gown and looked in the mirror over a sink. I could see the scars that were left from that day in the ROR. They were just raised lines that criss-crossed across my back, making it look like a window screen. There were ten total. About five still had bandages on them, but I could tell that they were almost healed. I sighed and slipped on my undergarments and then looked at the scar on my stomach. It looked just like the ones on my back. I then looked at the tiny one across my left cheek. It wasn't as prominent as I thought it would be. I could live with that. I slipped on the black pair of jeans and the plain white long sleeve shirt and then my robe over it. I put on the plain black pair of flats and sighed. I hoped that the rumors weren't too bad. I was still alive which would put a lot of them to rest, hopefully. I opened the door and found Sirius awake, clothes changed, and smiling at me. I smiled back and walked over to him. He stood up and took my hand smoothly. I just noticed how perfectly our hands fit together. We walked down to the waiting room and found Cloud waiting for us there. We all used floo powder to get back to the castle. It was almost lunch time.

"Let's go get some food." Sirius said, squeezing my hand.

We both walked into the Great Hall and the entire school seemed to turn at once and gasp. I was hoping for a less dramatic entrance. But then suddenly, the entire Gryffindor table stands up on the benches and gives a loud cheer that nearly shatters the windows. Lily, James, and Remus all came running at me and tackled me in a hug. Peter, once again, was nowhere to be seen. After the riot had settled down, I sat down and ate a huge meal, everyone giving me pats on the shoulders; Sirius had warned them not to give me pats on the back because of the incident.

Eventually, I was able to peel myself away from the crowd of well-wishers and reluctantly let go of Sirius and drag myself up to my dorm room for bed. I had been sleeping for a ridiculous amount of time, but I just felt so exhausted. After I changed into my sleep clothes and crawled into bed, the gravity of the decisions that had been made today fell on me. I was now involved in a war that I didn't even know the scope of. I knew the basic details and not much else. Despite the doubts I had, I still felt like my decision was the right one. I had my friends to back me up and everything was going to work out fine. I fell asleep thinking about how everything was going to be much MUCH different from now on.


	26. Author's Note

Gentle Reader,

So this is the end of "To Kill A Songbird". I know that it isn't the greatest ending, but I had to divide up one VERY long story into several different series. There WILL be more to come, so you can call off the angry mob. This first one, "To Kill A Songbird" is going to be one of four series to come. They will be named as follows:

To Kill a Songbird

On the Wings of a Songbird

The Songbird's Cage

The Songbird that Could Fly

I've already got a significant portion of "The Songbird that Could Fly" written, and I've got a good start to "On the Wings of a Songbird". The entire story has been planned out in vague-ish terms, it's just a matter of putting fingers to keys at this point.

I hoped you enjoyed this introduction into the life of Sky Strife, and I hope you'll return to see the rest.

Your humble servant,

Aramair


End file.
